


Rebel Against the King

by GalacticallyNonbinary



Series: A Troubled Kingdom [1]
Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Fantasy AU, Multi, also valerie's a knight too, and missy and pranks are pure children, joan and talyn are in this cus who wouldn't want to see those dorks being knights, so strap in, this is probably going to end up being the longest fic i've ever posted on here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2018-12-01 06:42:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 22,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11480835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticallyNonbinary/pseuds/GalacticallyNonbinary
Summary: Everyone has their doubts about the king. But what happens when a few townsfolk begin discussing those doubts? It's a Sanders Sides fantasy au, because why not.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited the first chapter just a tiny bit, just added some info that will make the story make a bit more sense in the chapters to come.

The king sat on his throne, head in his hands and heart sinking to the ground. He had always tried to be kind to his subjects, but in a corrupt system, that was impossibly hard. As king, he was supposed to have most, if not all of the power. And yet any ruling he made was struck down automatically, even when it was for the good of the people. Especially when it was for the good of the people. He could do nothing. Thomas, the powerless king.

A mercenary worked outside of the castle walls. He sold stolen goods to the poor and rich alike. Sometimes he stole from the rich and gave to the poor, but other times he stole from the poor and gave to the rich. He did whatever suited his needs. It wasn’t a safe living, but wasn’t exactly uncomfortable either. Even as he profited from the corruption surrounding him, he hated the system as he hated most systems, and dreamed of being ruler himself. Anxiety, the ambitious mercenary.

Cloaked in blue robes, a wizard bought things from more reputable sources. Spell books and scrolls from various shops scattered across town. He did not wish for fame, as most wizards did. The art of magic simply interested him, and he couldn’t care one bit about what people thought of him. He saw the flaws in the system, knew the corruption, and saw how each day their kingdom was a step closer to breaking apart. Logan, the genius wizard.

Riding on horseback, a man was watching over the townsfolk. A sword at his side and a shield on his back, he was prepared for a fight. The knight had seen men hanged for crimes that they couldn’t have committed, and he had watched the less lucky men waste away in jail cells. He constantly questioned the morality of his work. He was a part of the system, a cause of the corruption, and still saw the injustice in it all. Roman, the rebellious knight.

There was music coming from the center of town. A performer was singing for passersby. While he played, he noticed two children happily dancing along beside him. A smile alighted on his face, even as darker thoughts churned below. He sung of battle glories and brave tales, and claimed them to be true. The more outlandish the story, and the better it made the rulers appear, the more he got paid. The only way to make a living was lying and promoting the corrupt system, and that didn’t seem right. Patton, the doubtful bard.


	2. In A Tavern

One night, the local tavern was alive with music and laughter. Anxiety sat in a cloak, his hood obscuring parts of his face, prepared to drink until he couldn’t walk anymore. He smirked as he watched a knight enter the tavern, greeted by cheers, toasts, and a free round of drinks. Of course. Roman the knight, absurdly famous for no good reason. Anxiety had never even talked to the man himself, but simply hated him on the principle of hating most people, especially popular people.

Deciding to take another look around at the people in the tavern, Anxiety noticed a man performing on the stage. He danced, holding a lute and wearing a foolishly chipper grin. The songs he sang were, in Anxiety’s opinion, far too kind to the castle and the rulers inside of it. The songs made Anxiety sick to his stomach. He turned his attention away from the stage, and saw a man at the end of the bar, pouring over spells and scrolls. Anxiety assumed that he had to be a wizard, but most wizards made it a point of becoming famous, and Anxiety had never even seen this one before.

Suddenly, Anxiety’s thoughts came to a screeching halt as he felt someone sit down next to him. The mercenary turned to see Roman gulping down his drink, gazing directly at him. Looking him up and down, Anxiety glared at the knight. He decided that he would not be the first to talk. Roman realized this, and put down his drink before he spoke.

“You’re a mercenary, aren’t you?” Knights certainly weren’t famous for their subtlety. Anxiety knew there was no use in denying the accusation, and simply shrugged, muttering,

“You don’t have any proof.”

“People have been executed with less.” Was that a threat? Anxiety tensed, ready to run if he needed to, but Roman didn’t appear to want a fight. He just continued talking. "So, you profit off of the injustice in this kingdom?”

“Possibly, but remind me again, who between us works for the king?” Roman wanted to be angry with the man, but instead laughed, feeling genuine happiness he hadn’t felt in a while.

“Well, mercenary, do you think you could rule better?”

“I think I’d have more fun. Honestly though, given the circumstances, anyone could rule better. Even you.” That was either a compliment or an insult, and as Roman studied Anxiety’s face, he had a feeling that it was both.

“Let me buy you a drink, mercenary, and we’ll continue this conversation.” In response, Anxiety shrugged, never one to deny free drinks. As the knight and the mercenary talked, the wizard at the end of the bar was surprised at a sudden tap on his shoulder.

“Hey, you look tired. I just finished performing for the night, can I buy you a drink?” Logan glanced up to see a man dressed in bright colors, and holding an old lute. The most noticeable thing about him, however, was his delicate smile. He felt himself getting lost in that smile before shaking himself back to reality.

“That is certainly a kind offer, but I must get back to work." He motioned to the pile of scrolls and papers in front of him, but Patton laughed and sat down beside him anyway.

“You’ve been reading all night, I saw you from the stage. Everybody needs a break now and then, one drink won’t hurt!” Logan would’ve protested more, but Patton waved the bartender over and handed him money for two drinks. He realized that there was no point in resisting, so he pushed his scrolls to the side and let himself be dragged into a conversation with the overly excited bard.

Hours later, he still hadn’t touched his scrolls, but had been talking and drinking with Patton for quite some time. Eventually, they got onto the topic of Patton’s performance.

"Do you really believe all those things you sing? About the king?” Patton, slightly tipsy and never one to be too careful, laughed and responded,

“Of course not! It gets me money, but none of it’s true! This kingdom is a mess, everyone knows it. And the king too…I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.” Logan smiled, surprised to find himself agreeing with someone so different from him. The two had been drinking for a while, and weren’t keen on lowering their volume as they insulted the king. Had either of them paid more attention, maybe they would’ve noticed two knights entering through the wide doors. Maybe they would’ve heard the tavern go silent as they continued to complain. Maybe they would’ve started running before it was too late. Before the each felt rough hands grip their shoulders, and heard a low voice growl,

“What’s that you were saying about the king?” Patton and Logan met each other’s gaze, eyes wide in fear as the knight continued to speak, and everyone in the tavern stared at them. Logan tried to subtly reach into his cloak for his wand, but one of the knights grabbed his arms before he had the chance.

“You do know that for talking like this, we could kill you. Or worse.” Both knights chuckled darkly as they began to drag the men out of the tavern. Only a few feet away, previously unnoticed by the knights, Roman and Anxiety watched the scene unfold. Anxiety had long since backed into the shadows, not knowing what could happen if these knights recognized him as a criminal. Roman stood up as the knights walked across the floor, and called,

“Wait! You have no right to harm these men, they were simply speaking their minds. Something I don’t think either of you has ever done.” Many were shocked to see a knight standing up against two of his own. Both knights, still with a firm grasp on the bard and the wizard, unsheathed their swords.

“The king could kill you for this, Roman! And besides, it’s two against one.” Roman unsheathed his own sword and smirked.

“Well, I must say that you need to work on your counting skills.” He lunged at one of the knights with his sword. Anxiety, who had snuck around the side of the tavern, jumped onto the other. Both knights, taken by surprise, loosened their grip on their captives and allowed Logan and Patton to escape. When Roman saw that both of them were free, he yelled,

“Run!” And the four men dashed out of the bar. The knights ran after them, but Anxiety, who was an expert in hiding, led the group through alleys and shadows until they stopped hearing the sound of footsteps chasing them through empty streets. As they caught their breath in the dark, they heard a voice yell,

“You can run and hide, but tomorrow the king’s entire army will be after the four of you! Traitors!” And with that, the men allowed themselves to sink to the ground, breathing heavily. Roman and Anxiety were used to running often, and even Patton had some stamina from dancing every day, but Logan was unused to physical activity, and focused on forcing cold air through his throat and into his lungs as his head pounded. Patton frowned at him with concern, but Logan ignored him, and attempted to speak at a normal pace as he questioned Anxiety.

"You’re…a mercenary…right? Why…did…you help…us?” His chest still heaved, and his speech was far from normal, but the other three men ignored that fact as Roman replied,

“He did it for me, didn’t you?” Roman winked at Anxiety, who glared at the knight in return.

“As if. You think I didn’t get anything out of it?” Anxiety revealed his coat with pockets full of glittering coins that he had stolen as they fought the knights. Logan raised his eyebrows, admittedly impressed by the man’s skill. As his breathing slowed and mind began whirring again, he sighed in realization and muttered,

“I guess all of those scrolls are gone…” Wordlessly, Anxiety reached into his largest pocket, and pulled out a pile of parchment, handing it to Logan, who gasped excitedly and tucked the scrolls into his robes. Anxiety couldn’t help but smile at the seemingly serious man becoming so enthusiastic. Patton turned to Roman and asked,

“What do we do now? We can’t go back, we’d be dead by noon tomorrow!” Logan and Anxiety turned to Roman as well, who realized that they were looking to him as a leader. That terrified him more than anything else ever could, but he didn’t show it. Roman studied the outskirts of the city.

“The woods. We go to the woods, for now at least. It’ll be easier to hide there, and then we can figure out what to do next.”


	3. Chivalrous Knight

And so, the four men found themselves sneaking through shadows into the cover of the trees. They searched for a place to hide in case the king’s army ventured into the woods searching for them. All four were growing weary, and knew that they would need to sleep. Roman, ever the chivalrous knight, found a large group of bushes, and told the other three to sleep underneath them. He did not crawl down with them, as he claimed he was not tired, and would stand guard for the night. Yawning, Patton thanked him before he joined Anxiety and Logan under the bush.

Truthfully, Roman was incredibly tired, but he knew that if he tried to sleep, his thoughts would keep him tossing and turning. Better to have a task to do, even such a boring task as standing guard. It wasn’t so terrible, as Roman was used to long, boring shifts. He remembered the hours he sometimes spent guarding the king’s room. Having seen the king only a few times, Roman sometimes wished for an opportunity to talk to the man.

Was he truly evil, as those of Anxiety’s class seemed to believe? Or was he simply clueless? Or, was there another level of malicious power held in the castle that was hidden from the public? He pondered these questions as it got later and later. After a couple of hours, Roman stood, resting most of his weight on his sword that was posted in the ground. He struggled to keep his eyes open.

Just as he was sure he was about to collapse from exhaustion, Roman felt a tap on his shoulder. He grabbed his sword and spun around, looking for the intruder. However, the quick movement was too much for his already aching head, and he stumbled, falling to the ground. Roman grimaced and braced himself for the impact, but it never came. He felt arms wrap around his waist, and opened his eyes to see Logan holding onto him.

“Easy there Roman. Are you alright?” Logan helped Roman back to his feet, arm still wrapped around the knight’s back to support him. He then turned to Roman, waiting for the man’s answer. Still stunned and very sleep deprived, Roman just blinked as his brain slowly processed the question.

“I…yes. I apologize, did I wake you?”

"Not at all. I woke up on my own, I’m a very light sleeper. Decided to come out here and see the stars. Amazing to look at, aren’t they? So far away from us, and we still see arbitrary shapes and patterns weaving through them.” Roman looked to the stars for a moment, and understood what the wizard meant. They twinkled in their beauty so far away, and they was incredibly captivating. He then looked back to Logan, and saw that Logan’s eyes mirrored the light and excitement of the stars above. Roman’s head felt fuzzy, and through the tired haze he couldn’t quite think straight, but he thought that he could feel his heart beat faster in his chest. After a few moments, Logan turned away from the stars to face Roman, as if breaking himself out of a daze. The man looked Roman up and down, truly taking in how exhausted he was.

“Well, go ahead under the bush. You obviously need some sleep, so I will take over your guard post for the rest of the night.”

“Wha…no, I’m fine. Go back to sleep, don’t worry about me.”

“Nonsense. How are we going to handle any attacks that may come our way in the morning if our knight in shining armor is sleep deprived?” Roman felt his heart leap upon being called a ‘knight in shining armor.’ Still, he wanted to maintain that title and be vigilant in his guard duties.

“If someone attacks while you’re on guard, how will you fight back?” Smirking, Logan pulled a magic wand from his robes.

“I know enough spells to get by.” Having no reason to protest anymore, and already feeling as if he was half asleep, Roman crawled under the bush. He took Logan’s spot in between Anxiety and Patton. Anxiety was curled in on himself, his entire body in his black capes. Roman’s mind began to worry about Logan out there, all alone, on guard, what if someone attacked, what if he got hurt, what if-

Roman’s worries slowed as he felt Patton turn in his sleep, and put his arm around the knight’s waist. He curled back into the bard, who made small noises of contentment. As Roman drifted off to sleep, the worries in the back of his mind dissipated, and he felt truly calm for the first time in a very long while.


	4. Berries and Knights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The formatting on this one's a bit weird but...welp.

Soft sunshine fell in speckled dots on the ground below the bush. Roman felt the cold air rush next to him, and knew that Patton was no longer there. Opening his eyes just slightly, he could see that Anxiety was no longer under the bush either. Crawling out into the open, Roman was greeted by Patton’s warm smile, and a delighted hug from the man.

“Good morning sleepy head!” As Patton wrapped his arms around him, Roman noticed the scent of fruit clinging to the man’s clothes. He stepped back, and saw a pile of berries on a rock behind Patton. Anxiety sat with his knees close to his chest, and nibbled on a strawberry. Logan tossed a raspberry into his mouth as he read over a piece of parchment. “Are you hungry?” In response, Roman’s stomach grumbled, causing Patton to giggle as he handed the man a handful of berries. Then, Patton’s face fell ever so slightly, and he remarked, “It’s probably not much compared to the palace breakfasts you get, but I found some berry bushes nearby and…”

“It’s perfect, Patton. Thank you.” Though Roman didn’t notice, Patton’s cheeks were dusted with a light shade of pink as he grinned excitedly. They joined the other two, creating a small circle around the berries. Logan glared in intense frustration at his parchment. Concerned for the wizard, Roman asked,

“Logan are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I just found this duplication spell that only works on nonliving objects. I’m trying to make some modifications to make it work for the berries but…” He lackadaisically aimed his wand at a blackberry, and it burst into flames for a brief moment before turning to black ash. Anxiety chuckled.

“I mean, it didn’t duplicate but that was still pretty cool.” Logan frowned at him, before turning his wand at him and saying,

“And you’re next.”

Anxiety put his hands up in mock surrender, still snickering at the wizard. Roman and Patton shared a smile. The morning seemed perfectly wonderful. Of course, perfectly wonderful things do not stay perfectly wonderful for long, as evidenced by the quiet sound of horses’ hooves echoing through the forest. Roman drew his sword as the others shared fearful glances. Anxiety turned to Logan and hissed,

“Can’t you turn us invisible or something?”

“Of course not! Do you know how much power a spell like that would take?”

“Can you do any spells that actually work?” Before Logan could come up with a response, Patton glared at them, silencing them both immediately.

“We need to hide. Fighting would be far more dangerous. They’d see us if we hid under the bush…” Anxiety looked upwards, a sudden realization striking him.

“Trees. We could hide in the trees.” Logan rolled his eyes, retorting,

“Do you really think that the knights are so dumb that they wouldn’t think to look up?” Roman, standing and sheathing his sword, muttered,

“Trust me. They are.”

The horses were getting closer, so they had to hurry. Anxiety scampered up a tree with the agility of a cat, and perched on one of the highest branches. Roman followed him up the same tree, slightly less gracefully, but his strong arm muscles easily pulled him upwards. Patton seemed to dance up another nearby tree, and once again, Logan felt like the weakest link.

The others frantically motioned for him to climb up the tree that Patton was in. Carefully, he spotted footholds in the branches and climbed his way upwards. One foothold was not quite as sturdy as it appeared to be, and Logan’s feet slipped out from under him. He felt a strong hand latch around his upper arm, and looked up to see Patton pulling him onto the high branch. Using his other hand to grab onto the branch, Logan was able to join Patton just as the knights came into view.

Roman was right, the knights searched under bushes and around rocks, but didn’t look up. The rebels sat still, shaking in the trees and exchanging nervous glances as they watched the king’s entire army march by. It seemed to go on for hours. Finally, they could see the two knights that brought up the rear. Helmets obscured their faces, but their voices were just audible over the sound of horses marching. They were more observant than the others before them, as one of them stopped their horse just below the rebels and said,

“Joan, look. A pile of picked berries. That seems like something only a human would do.” Anxiety saw Roman tense at the mention of the knight’s name. Maybe he knew them…

“What, you think they’re around here somewhere?” The one who had been called ‘Joan’ peered under bushes and behind trees, even looking around the trunks of the trees where the rebels sat. “I don’t see them anywhere…” Then, as if they were coming to a slow realization, Joan looked upward. Their eyes were just barely visible through small slits in the helmet. Roman locked eyes with them, and a flash of recognition shot through Joan’s face when they saw Roman. On instinct, they gasped loudly, causing their friend to turn to them.

“Joan, did you see something?”

“Uh…I…sorry, Talyn. It was nothing. Must’ve just been a trick of the light.” The other knight shrugged and continued following the rest of the army on their horse. Joan looked back up once more. This time, they looked at all four of the rebels and nodded slowly, before spurring their horse onwards. The rebels stayed silently perched in the trees until they heard the distant sound of hooves finally fade away. Patton was the first to hop down onto the ground, sighing in relief. Roman and Anxiety followed, but Logan stayed clutching the branch.

“Come on down Logan!” Roman called up to the wizard. When he still didn’t move, Patton stood directly underneath him.

“I’ll catch you, don’t worry!” Logan glared at the bard before carefully letting himself fall into the man’s arms. For a brief moment, Patton did catch him. But the sudden weight threw him off guard, and Patton stumbled backwards, landing on the forest floor with a loud _thud_. Logan’s face turned pink as he found himself on top of Patton. Quickly, he stood up and apologized as he helped Patton to his feet. Patton offered Logan a reassuring smile, and both of their faces turned darker shades of red until Anxiety interrupted.

“Roman, did you know that knight?”

"Yes, actually. I knew both of them. Joan and Talyn were very nice.”

“So you think they’ll keep their mouth shut?” Roman sighed deeply, responding with an unsure,

“We have to hope so.”

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Two Brave Knights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly never know how to title chapters

Joan was still very unsettled as the army marched on through the forest. They had seen Roman’s face, no doubt about it. Roman had looked uncharacteristically terrified. Joan remembered seeing the four men in the trees, all of their eyes focused on them. They could be killed for withholding the information but…

A familiar voice snapped them out of their spiraling thoughts.

“Joan, are you alright?” They looked to see Talyn beside them, concern evident in their voice even if their face wasn’t visible. Joan wanted desperately to tell Talyn about their friend that had been in the trees, but knew that they couldn’t say anything in front of all of the other knights. Instead, they shrugged and continued on in silence.

Hours later, they arrived back at the castle, the knights disheartened as the rebels were still nowhere to be found. Joan and Talyn were usually the last knights left in the stable, as they liked to talk with each other without the worry of other knights overhearing them. This time was no exception.

"Joan, are you sure you’re feeling okay? You’ve been acting weird all day.” Before responding, Joan ensured that every other knight had left the stables. Once positive that the two of them were alone, Joan began to speak in a whisper.

“You remember when we saw those berries in the woods?” Talyn nodded, scared of what Joan was going to say. “Well, when we were looking around there, I looked up and…I saw them. I saw the rebels.”

“Joan!” Talyn gasped. “Why didn’t you say anything, we’ve got to tell the king, or someone!” Joan grabbed their arm before they could run off.

“One of them was Roman.” Talyn froze, searching Joan’s face for any sign that what they had said was somehow untrue. But Joan looked sincerely as terrified and worried as Talyn felt. Talyn tried to find words to speak, questions to ask, but they just continued to stare up at Joan, silently dumbfounded.

Roman had always been kind, caring, and above all, extremely loyal to the king. Now he had hidden himself in the woods, and apparently was rebelling. Luckily for Roman and the other rebels, Joan and Talyn agreed to keep the secret, at least for a short while. As they marched out of the stables to their guard positions for the evening, two eyes peered down at them through a high window.

The king watched two knights walk out into the fading sunlight. He recognized them as Joan and Talyn, his childhood friends. They seemed worried. Thomas wanted to rush out of the castle, go to them, and help however he could. But the knights guarding every door of the labyrinthine castle would never allow that to happen. Thomas sighed longingly, still gazing out of the window in his bedroom. Normally, at night, he could hear muffled music from the town seeping through the thin glass panes. Tonight, it was eerily silent, and Thomas was disappointed as he slumped over to his bed. The king stared at the ceiling for hours, unable to fall asleep.

As the king tried to relax, the band of rebels in the forest had their own struggles with sleep. They once again slept under the bush, and this time they took guard shifts based on a schedule that Logan laid out for them. Roman had the first shift, and was secretly grateful to be able to get more sleep than he had the night before. However, the knight was terrified when his shift was over. He wanted to protect the others, and to be able to fight for them, but he couldn’t do that if he let his guard down to go to sleep. But even with his doubts, he let Logan go on guard and once again fell asleep with Patton’s arm wrapped around him.

The worst part of the night came hours later, as Patton left his side to go on his own shift. Logan took the bard’s place under the bush, and fell asleep quickly. Roman noticed Patton’s absence, and it kept him awake in the darkness. He was so concerned for Patton. Roman doubted his fighting abilities, and didn’t think he even had the heart to hurt another person. His worries were set to keep Roman awake all night. Patton’s caring touch had chased away his fear, but now that the bard was gone…

He noticed how Anxiety tossed and turned, and realized that the mercenary could not sleep either. An idea crept its way into Roman’s head. Carefully but confidently, Roman inched nearer to Anxiety. Once they were mere centimeters away, Roman wrapped his arm around Anxiety. He felt the cloaked man freeze for a moment, and the knight waited for any sign of discomfort. Instead, he felt Anxiety move back just a bit, curling in towards Roman. Finally, both could sleep.


	6. A Slow Realization

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay honestly I don't even know what these titles are anymore

The next morning, Roman was the first to awaken. In the night, or rather, very early in the morning, Anxiety had left to go on his own guard shift. Of course, Patton had reentered the bush and calmly pulled Roman in towards him. When Roman awoke, he felt the warmth beside him. He closed his eyes and let himself drift in a blissful state somewhere between being asleep and being awake.

Only a few minutes later, he felt Patton begin to stir. They greeted each other with soft smiles, and walked groggily out of the bush to join Anxiety, who sat outside. Patton cheerily skipped away to pick berries, leaving Anxiety alone with Roman. Anxiety spoke first, fiddling with a golden coin in his hands.

“So, the wizard’s still asleep?” Roman nodded, throwing them both back into uncomfortable silence. He then noticed how tired Anxiety looked. Did he always look that tired, and this was just the first time Roman had a chance to truly look at him? Or had the late night shift taken its toll?

“You look rather tired...if you want I could take your guard shift, at least for a few nights.” Anxiety scoffed.

“Whatever. I'm fine, don't worry about me, Princey.” The nickname gave Roman pause.

“Princey?” Anxiety stiffened slightly.

“I...just mean that you act like a prince...you're...you're airheaded and…” Anxiety stammered on for another moment before Roman interrupted.

“And chivalrous and brave and...handsome?” Anxiety’s face turned a dark pink shade, and he tried to mumble out an insult towards the overconfident knight. Luckily for him, at that moment, Logan walked out to join them, muttering to himself. Grateful for the opportunity to switch topics, Anxiety spoke up.

“Still trying to master that duplication spell?” Logan continued mumbling under his breath before he realized that he had been asked a question.

“I'm...yes, yes I am. I want to ensure that we have enough food, even if it is just berries, but this useless spell won't work on organic material.”

Roman sighed, and Anxiety continued fiddling with one of his golden coins. The smooth metal and glinting surface calmed him. Suddenly, he stopped twirling it, and burst out in uncharacteristic laughter. Logan and Roman glanced at each other, unsure what was happening. In between laughs, Anxiety attempted to explain himself.

“Logan, you're supposed to be the smart one. I can't believe you didn't realize…” He continued chuckling as Logan glared at the notion of his intelligence being called into question. Even Anxiety was surprised at how much he was laughing. Maybe it was just because he hadn't laughed or even truly smiled in so long. "Logan, don't you get it? The spell works on small, man-made objects, right?”

“Yes, but I don't understand what you're trying to-” Logan was interrupted by Anxiety flinging a small golden coin directly at his face. Roman giggled at Logan’s frustrated groan. Then, it was as if everything had suddenly grown brighter around the wizard.

“Of course!” Roman still didn't understand, but watched intently as Logan firmly pointed his wand at the coin that was now on the ground. There was a small flash of light, and when Roman looked back, two coins sat where only one had been just moments ago.

“Good idea, Anxiety! We have all the money we would need for food, and anything else we want.” Roman frowned at the money on the ground.

“Isn't this illegal?” Anxiety smirked.

“We're already hiding from the king himself. What are they going to do, kill us more?” Roman nodded and laughed, but the sinking pit in his stomach remained. As he laughed, Patton walked into the clearing, hands overflowing with berries.

“Good morning! Looks like we're having berries for breakfast again!” He dumped them onto the rock, and as the others gladly ate, they explained their realization to Patton.

“That's amazing! We can go into a nearby town later today and buy food from there.” As Patton said that, and they all nodded in agreement, all four came to the same slow realization. Of course they had known it, but the fact began to sink in just at that moment. They were starting over their lives in the woods. Patton said what they were all thinking.

“We can never go back…”

Logan and Anxiety nodded solemnly. Sure, maybe they wished for a sturdier roof and softer bed, but neither had much of a home or family to return to. Roman, however, remembered Talyn and Joan, and how he enjoyed talking with the both of them, and many of the other knights as well.

Patton remembered the smiles on peoples’ faces as he performed, and thought about the children who danced along to his music. He had no more of a family than Logan or Anxiety, but he had always considered his audiences as family, and missed that connection. He even remembered two young children who would come to dance almost every day. One of the children would occasionally try to play tricks on him, and the other complimented his music in ways that almost sounded like insults, but they really had enjoyed his music. He missed their smiles…Patton didn't realized how long he had been lost in thought until he was startled by Roman tapping his shoulder.

“Patton? You in there? Logan was just explaining a plan he had.”

“Yes! Of course, I was just…thinking.” Logan sighed, and continued his long-winded explanation.

“So, we cannot go into the town until evening, because that is when most of the knights will be gone. While we are waiting for evening to come, Anxiety and I will travel to the edge of the town and attempt to gather information.” Roman looked hurt.

“You and Anxiety? What about me? I’m the strongest fighter here!”

“We need to be unseen, Roman. Out of this group, it is obvious that Anxiety and I are the most inconspicuous. We will not have to fight if we are never spotted, but if the situation calls for it, I have spells I could use in combat. I believe that Anxiety is more than capable of taking care of himself in a fight. And I would like there to always be at least two people at the base. So, yes, Anxiety and I.”

Roman sighed and slumped down, but made no farther argument.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *not-so-subtly hints at 2 minor characters who may or may not appear soon......*


	7. Singing and Posters

Roman watched with Patton as Logan and Anxiety walked away. Patton hummed a cheery tune, a smile on his face while Roman glared at the ground. As Roman listened, he realized that he didn’t recognize the song Patton hummed, which was strange, as he considered himself to be a musical expert. 

“Patton? What song is that?” The bard stopped humming and giggled.

“Oh, well it’s not really an actual song. It’s a song that I made up. It’s pretty silly and dumb, I guess.”

“Could you play it for me?” Patton looked up into Roman’s hopeful eyes, and couldn’t suppress his giddy smile. He grabbed the lute that was slung around his back, and strummed while he sang.

“Seven dragons and a baby sitting in their nest  
The baby dances ‘round the dragons while they take their rest  
The baby understands the danger knows he must be careful  
And if he is successful then the dragons make him waffles!”

Roman saw Patton’s cockeyed grin as he played the last chord, and couldn’t help but laugh himself. 

“I know it’s sort of stupid but-“

“No!” Roman interjected. “I love it! Do you think we could make more verses?”

Patton lit up like a gem, and they both enthusiastically got to work. As the two of them merrily sang, two much less joyful men walked toward the town. Neither one was an excellent conversationalist, and so their walk had been in utter silence. Logan didn’t mind the silence, but Anxiety hated it, he wished he had the nerve to just speak to the wizard. Finally, he blurted out,

“Why were you even talking bad about the king in that tavern in the first place?" A million thoughts went through Anxiety’s head. Was that the wrong thing to say? Had he made Logan feel guilty? One look at the wizard’s face, however, revealed that he didn’t mind the question. 

“Patton and I both had been drinking too much. We lost our inhibitions. However, I never said anything that wasn’t true.”

Anxiety smirked, agreeing with Logan. Neither of them had anything else to say, and so continued on in silence. This silence, Anxiety realized, was different. It was not uncomfortable, and he could relax into it. If either one wanted to say something, they would say it, but there was no need to fill the space with mindless chatter. It was calming to be able to just think for once. Anxiety hadn’t realized how much of a break he had needed from the other two. 

Finally, they reached the wall that separated them from the town. Anxiety helped Logan climb the tall tree just a foot away from the wall, and they sat in a high branch, overlooking the villagers. They watched and listened for a few minutes, wondering if the people below knew anything about the rebels. A pair of particularly excited children caught their attention.

The children dashed around carts, under horses, and through the crowd, giggling and laughing with each other. Most adults glared as they ran past, but the children didn’t seem to mind, if they even noticed at all. They ran up to the wall, but came to a screeching halt when they saw it. Both children stared at something on the inside of the wall. The confusion on their faces was visible, even from high in the tree.

“Pranks? Isn’t that a drawing of the really nice bard from the square?” The other child nodded, still staring at the wall. "Why is he on a wanted poster?”

“I don’t know, Missy. I don’t think he’d ever do anything wrong. This poster’s just dumb.”

Anxiety and Logan watched as the kid reached forward, and tore something down from the wall. He balled the paper up in his hands, and tossed it over the wall without a second glance. The paper landed directly below the tree where Anxiety and Logan were perched. Logan clambered down the tree, falling the last few feet to the ground. Anxiety smirked and followed him much more gracefully. 

After dusting himself off, Logan grabbed the paper ball. He carefully opened it up, and saw that it was indeed a wanted poster. There were four drawings on it. The first three were easily recognizable as Patton, Roman, and Logan. The fourth, however, was a hooded man, facial features obscured by the shadows casted on his face.

“And that is why mercenaries wear hoods.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll remember that next time I plan to run from the king,” Logan retorted. Anxiety chuckled, and they both headed back the way they came, knowing that this was something Patton and Roman needed to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is from the podcast Hello From The Magic Tavern btw. The mixture of fantasy and silliness reminded me of this story and of Patton, so I figured I'd make it his song. Technically, it's breaking the rules since waffles didn't exist yet, but I've got magic in this so waffles can be there too! And a world without waffles is not a world I would ever want to subject Patton to


	8. Swap

When Logan and Anxiety reached the clearing, they heard the sounds of a lute being strummed, and two voices singing.

“Seven dragons and a baby marching on the town  
The villagers are fearful but the baby calms them down  
Explains to them he understands that dragons can be awful  
But if they want some breakfast yes the dragons make them waffles!”

Baffled, Logan and Anxiety entered the clearing to see Patton and Roman falling onto each other in a fit of giggles. Anxiety frowned.

“Looks like you two have been having fun.”

Patton grinned and replied, “Roman helped me write more of my song!”

Logan rolled his eyes. “While the two of you were wasting your time with nonsense, we found this. There’s no way we could go into town now.”

He handed them the wanted poster, and Roman grinned. “Anxiety can go into town, the poster doesn’t show his face at all!” 

Logan solemnly sighed. “But they would recognize his cloak as that of a mercenary, and he wouldn’t be welcomed into the shops.” Feeling hopeless, Logan sat down beside Patton. He didn’t notice the confused looks that the other three gave him. When it had been silent for a few too many seconds, Logan looked up and met Patton’s gaze.

“The solution’s obvious! You and Anxiety could switch robes!” Logan’s eyes shot wide open.

He hadn’t even considered it an option! Of course it was an obvious solution, but Logan held some strange aversion to the concept. As he thought about the idea of taking off his robes in front of the other three, his face grew warm and his heart raced. An unusual instance of emotions meddling with his life, oh how Logan hated feelings. 

“Why couldn’t he switch with one of you? Why does it have to be me? I don’t think that it should be me! In fact-” 

Roman interrupted before the wizard could launch into one of his lengthy rants. “It makes far more sense for you two to simply switch robes than it does for one of us to undress entirely.”

Anxiety and Logan locked eyes, sighing as they realized that there was no other choice. Removing his heavy black cloak, Anxiety revealed a long-sleeved dark tunic underneath. That was certainly unsurprising. Logan took off his robes to show his short-sleeved tan tunic. It fit snugly around him, and the others couldn’t help but stare for a few moments. His face heated up, and he quickly shoved the blue robe at Anxiety, mumbling a quick,

“Here,” and sitting back down next to Patton.

The robe was already a bit big on Logan, and even though they were about the same size, it seemed to swallow Anxiety whole. Patton had to stifle a giggle as Anxiety put it on. Logan grabbed a large pile of coins from Anxiety’s cloak, which was on the ground, and pointed his wand at them. They all watched in awe as the size of the pile doubled. Anxiety pulled out scrolls that were tucked in Logan’s robe, and replaced them with the multitude of coins. Before he could walk away, Logic stood up, muttered a few words, and waved his wand over Anxiety.

“A communication spell. Everything you hear and say, we should be able to hear through my wand. I’ve never tried it from this much of a distance, but hopefully it'll work.”

Anxiety nodded, and gave them all serious glances before turning and heading to town. The sun was just about to start its slow descent as Anxiety left the clearing.


	9. A Mercenary's Journey

The woods grew ever colder, and Logan felt a shiver run through him. Patton looked concerned.

“Why don’t you put on Anxiety’s cloak, if you’re cold?”

“I’m fine,” Logan replied firmly. He wasn’t sure why he said that. Perhaps he refused to wear a mercenary’s cloak, out of principle. Maybe he was doing it to spite Anxiety. Or even, because Patton had been the one who suggested the idea, he was doing it to spite Patton. And yet none of those possibilities made any sense in Logan’s mind, and he hated that. His mind made sense of everything, yet it couldn’t make any sense of his own actions. It had to be driven by some stupid emotion, pride, most likely. Yet another example of emotions destroying Logan’s rationality.

The three continued to sit, and listened to Logan’s wand that was perched on the rock between all of them. They only heard soft footsteps and crunching leaves, and knew that Anxiety was still in the forest. The cool wind picked up, and Patton shot a worried glance at Logan, who refused to show how the chill affected him. Roman was growing bored of listening to Anxiety walk, and he needed to do something. His nervous energy drove his mind in downward spirals.

“Logan! You heard Patton and I working on a song earlier today, would you like to hear the whole thing?” Logan shrugged, so the others took that response as a yes. Patton readied his lute and strummed as they sang.

“Seven dragons and a baby sitting in their nest  
The baby dances ‘round the dragons while they take their rest  
The baby understands the danger knows he must be careful  
And if he is successful then the dragons make him waffles!”

There was a pause, and both took deep breaths. Logan was glad it was over, but his face fell slightly as they continued singing.

“Seven dragons and a baby marching on the town  
The villagers are fearful but the baby calms them down  
Explains to them he understands that dragons can be awful  
But if they want some breakfast yes the dragons make them waffles!”

Patton and Roman offered the wizard overenthusiastic grins, and Logan had to laugh, in spite of himself. Once he realized that he was laughing, he covered his mouth and abruptly stopped, causing Roman and Patton to giggle even more. They all fell into a pile of chuckles, and just as their laughter subsided, they could hear quiet voices coming from Logan’s wand. The sound was crackled and fragmented, but they all could tell that Anxiety had entered the town.

They heard him walk through shops and purchase plenty of food and even a few blankets. All three expected him to head back after that, but they then heard him enter another shop. After a minute or so of hearing him wander around the unidentified store, they finally heard him spoke.

“How much would this much parchment cost?”

“Five gold pieces.” They heard the sound of gold clattering against wood.

“Do you have any ink and quills?”

“We have some in the back. Go to the back and look for those, would you?” The shuffling of feet on a dirt floor could be heard, and the three rebels assumed that the shopkeeper had sent an assistant to look for the supplies. Roman, Patton, and Logan shot each other confused glances as they continued listening to the shopkeeper make small talk. 

“Haven’t seen you around here before.”

“I’m visiting from a town a little ways away. Staying with my friend for a while.”

The lies flowed off of his tongue effortlessly, he never wavered once.

“Well, be careful, I heard there are some dangerous rebels on the loose.” They heard a slight chuckle from Anxiety, but he quickly hid it with a cough. 

“So, what’s your name anyway?” There was a slight pause, imperceptible to most people, but Logan, Patton, and Roman noticed it immediately.

“…Virgil.” Patton’s eyes shot open as he looked to the others.

“Virgil?” Roman shrugged, and looked to Logan.

“The name of a famous poet in ancient Rome, he wrote a multitude of poems, including the Aeneid, which is one of the most…” Logan trailed off as he saw the other two looking at him incredulously. Face growing redder, he cleared his throat and quickly muttered, “But I have no idea why he would say that is his name.”

They continued listening as he got what he had asked for and left the shop. The three men around the rock all sat back in the cold night air, listening to Anxiety - or perhaps his name really was Virgil – walk down the path. As another breeze swept through, Logan couldn’t help but shiver. His teeth chattered audibly in the cold. Patton looked at him and sighed, before taking Anxiety’s cloak that was still on the ground and wrapping it around Logan’s shoulders. He held it firm, refusing to let Logan shrug it off.

“Enough is enough. You’re not freezing to death tonight, alright?” Logan frowned and rolled his eyes, but no longer tried to remove the cloak. It was surprisingly warm, and Logan liked the weight of it around his shoulders.


	10. Name Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one might have a long intermission while I figure out the next few chapters, I'm not completely sure what direction I want to take this in yet. But I do promise that it will get finished!

Patton, pleased that he had gotten Logan to finally wear the cloak, turned back to Roman and brought out his lute. When Logan realized, he groaned as the two began to joyously sing.

“Seven dragons and a baby sitting in their nest  
The baby dances ‘round the dragons while they take their rest-”

“They’re still singing that dumb song?”

Everyone turned to see Anxiety standing in the clearing, holding the things he had bought in town. Patton giddily rushed over and swept him into a tight hug. Anxiety stiffened, unused to the contact, but relaxed slightly once he realized the man wasn’t going to let go.

“You’re alive!”

“Well duh. I just went to town, of course I’m fine. And besides, if I died, I’m pretty sure you would’ve heard it, thanks to our resident wizard.” Logan smiled proudly for a moment, but then Anxiety continued. “…our wizard who only knows two spells.”

Roman and Patton laughed as Logan threw his head into his hands, groaning in frustration. Patton pulled away from Anxiety for a moment, looking into his eyes with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

“You said your name was Virgil to the shopkeeper…why?”

Anxiety shrugged, replying nonchalantly. “Just a random name I came up with.”

Ready to accept that answer, Patton began to move to sit back down, but Logan spoke up.

“No, that is untrue. If it were a random name, it would not be nearly so specific and unusual. In addition, you are a talented liar, as evidenced by your profession and your ability to lie to that same man only seconds earlier. However, when you said your name, you paused slightly. Good liars only pause when they say the painful truth.”

As he prattled on, Anxiety – Virgil? – sighed. He was right, if there was one thing that any of them knew about Logan,  it was that he is always right.

“My brain was moving too fast, I got nervous, so I said my real name. Big deal. Did you really think my name was Anxiety?”

The others, shrugging, looked at each other before all uttering a quiet, “Well, yes.”

Patton sat down with Virgil and confidently remarked, “I like the name Virgil! It’s got a cool sound to it!”

Roman nodded.

“Logan mentioned that he was a famous poet. That makes the name quite interesting to me. Poetry is actually one of my favorite things.”

“Yes, as I mentioned to them earlier, Virgil wrote the Aeneid, widely considered one of the greatest epic poems ever written. It’s a fascinating read. Perhaps you would enjoy it, Roman.”

Patton excitedly looked at Virgil, who held piles of things he had bought in town. He held four blankets, and handed them out to the others. Roman’s was a deep red color, and had golden tassels. Patton’s blanket was sky blue, with tan and grey patterns crisscrossing it. The one that Virgil handed to Logan had dark blue and black stripes running across it. Virgil held onto the one that was completely black.

He then showed them the food he had gotten, and all were very excited. Most of it was bread, as that would go stale much slower. He had brought back some meat, and that was stored in thick burlap bags. Logan and Roman tied those bags high in a tree, keeping them away from the animals. While they did so, Patton questioned Virgil.

“Why did you buy the parchment and quills?” Virgil fidgeted and wrung his hands, but still managed a soft smile as he gave Patton the parchment.

“I figured if you guys were writing a song, you should have something to write it down on. And Logan might want that to help him work on his spells or whatever.” Patton’s smile grew as he watched the nervous Virgil explain himself.

“You did it for us!”

“Well, I mean, I might need it too-”

“You care about us!”

For the second time that night, Virgil was wrapped in a caring hug. This time, he didn’t fight it, and even tentatively hugged Patton back. Logan walked by the two of them, yawning.

“I think we should be headed off to sleep, it’s getting late.” He began to climb under the bush, but was stopped by Virgil clearing his throat.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

For a moment, Logan was confused. Then, it hit him. Blushing, he handed Virgil back the cloak he had been wearing, and took his own robes back. Truthfully, he had enjoyed the warmth of the cloak around his shoulders, and had forgotten it was there. Now that he wore his own robe again, Logan somehow felt colder than he had before. Patton, Virgil, and Logan climbed under the bush with their blankets, wishing Roman a good night. And surprisingly, it really did turn out to be a good night. 


	11. A Flame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop, some actual plot is picking up here folks.

The next day was slow and uneventful, both for the rebels in the woods and the king in his castle. However, something in the air felt like sparks, almost as if a fire could ignite at any moment. And that night, those sparks did ignite into a flame of sorts.

Logan awoke late in the night to find that only he and Roman were under the bush. Curious as to where the others had gone, he crept out into the clearing to see that a small fire had been lit. Patton and Virgil sat next to each other, close in the warm glow of the flames. The wizard went to go back to sleep, but the rustling of leaves made Patton turn to spot him.

“Hey, come on over here, sit by the fire.” Logan couldn’t say no to Patton’s friendly smile, and he reluctantly sat next to the two of them. Virgil, half asleep, had his head rested on Patton’s shoulder, and Patton held an arm around the mercenary. Logan immediately felt awkward and out of place. “How are you anyway?” Logan turned to Patton with a frown.

“We spend every hour together, you know that I am healthy.” Patton shook his head, staring into the fire.

“I mean…how are you dealing with all of this?” Logan turned to look at the bard, but he just kept watching the flames dance in front of him.

“I’m fine, Patton.” That wasn’t quite true, and all three of them knew it. “How about you? Are you alright?” Patton shrugged, his voice a melancholy murmur.

“I dunno…I mean, we’re out here, right? Hiding in the woods because we were stupid and said stupid things, and they were stupid and rescued us. None of us like the king, we all think that things need to change around here. But we don’t do anything. It’s like we’re waiting for something to happen, for some sort of sign that’ll never come. And we’ll just sit here waiting for it, and we’ll wait until we die out here, or more likely, we’re found out and killed. And our last thoughts will be regretting that we never did anything.”

By this time, Patton’s voice had awoken Virgil, and both he and Logan were staring directly at the bard. None of them heard it, but Roman had crawled out from under the bush and stood behind them. All three were shocked by the outpouring of thoughts and emotions from the usually chipper bard. Roman spoke slowly.

“Well, if you don’t want to regret not taking action…let’s take action.” Patton, slightly embarrassed by the sudden speech he had given, looked to Roman, confusion evident on his face. “We could sway the public, we could try to change something. I mean, we are wanted criminals. They all know who we are, so maybe we should use that power to do some good.” Patton frowned at the knight.

“But how would we do that?” Logan, grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill, replied,

“I think I have an idea…”

Logan quickly explained his plan to the others, who enthusiastically agreed to help. The four of them called out words and ideas that Logan quickly jotted down. After about half an hour, they stepped back, admiring their handiwork. Patton grinned, proud of himself and the others. Logan studied the parchment carefully. Virgil swallowed, hard, nervous energy churning in his stomach. Roman gave a single, solemn nod to Logan, who waved his wand many times, causing the one piece of parchment to multiply into a stack of twenty.

And this was how Virgil found himself headed towards town yet again. This time, he sprinted through the forest with an intense energy burning inside of him. He carried the pile of parchment, and just before dawn reared its head, he dashed around the town, posting the parchments wherever he could. He ran back through the forest as soft sunlight began to peak over the horizon. Those pieces of parchment carried a very special message. Each of them read the following:

ATTENTION CITIZENS

This is a message from the rebels in the forest.

We are on the run, hiding just because the king refuses to release his iron grip on his kingdom and the subjects inside of it. Does that seem fair to you?

You may take whatever side you wish. But may we propose a simple question to you:

What has your ‘king’ ever done for you?

Beneath that message was a crudely drawn picture of the four of them that Patton had insisted on adding. Those pieces of parchment, tacked to the sides of houses, walls and trees, were the final piece of kindling added to the enormous flame.


	12. A Neglected King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah you guys. stuff is starting to happen, and it's kind of scaring me? like I started out wanting to write some cute polysanders fantasy fluff, and now...this is happening

Thomas mindlessly ate his breakfast, his body moving on autopilot while his brain tried to wake up. He saw the advisors and heralds talking and laughing over their meal. Sitting at the head of the table, he should’ve been respected, but Thomas was completely ignored. As he shoveled another bite of food into his mouth, a knight ran through the door to the banquet hall.

Thomas immediately recognized Valerie, and grew concerned as he noticed that she looked nervous, frightened even. Her hair fell into her eyes as she bowed to Thomas and the other castle staff members. Valerie then held out a piece of tattered parchment to the king. Thomas reached for it, but the advisor sitting to his right snatched it out of Valerie’s hand, not even acknowledging the knight, and ignored Thomas’ annoyed frown. Thomas turned to Valerie and thanked her, giving her a look of silent concern. She responded with a feeble smile, and left the hall without a word.

The advisor, who had just finished reading the parchment, angrily ripped it in half. His face red, and his voice harsh, he exclaimed,

“These rebels say that we don’t know how to run a kingdom? We’ll show them that we do! Gather the head knights, I would like to speak with them. And, make sure everyone knows this: if you see the rebels, kill them on sight.”

Thomas felt a pit of dread sinking in his stomach. The others filed out of the room, none of them looking at him as they left. Finally, the large doors slammed shut, leaving Thomas alone in the dining hall. Carefully, almost as if they would crumble at his touch, Thomas took the two pieces of parchment that had fluttered to the ground. He saw the note the rebels had written, and even cracked a small smile at the messy drawing etched at the bottom of the page.

The news that the rebels were taking action certainly interested Thomas. As much as they seemed to hate him, Thomas still desperately wanted to talk to them. He wanted to tell them that he was on their side, and maybe even help them. Of course, no one would ever allow the king to leave the castle on his own. Interrupting his thoughts, a knight poked their head through the door.

“Sir? Did the others leave?” The knight talked in a soft voice, and their question was answered by a small chuckle from Thomas as he beckoned them into the hall.

“You know you don’t have to call me sir, right Joan?”

Joan. They were Thomas’ childhood friend, and one of the few people working in the castle that he actually trusted. Joan sat on the carpet, leaning their back against the dark wood of the long dining table. Quickly, Thomas joined them, hoping to talk to his friend about what he had been thinking before they interrupted. Conveniently, Joan mentioned it first.

“Sir- uh, Thomas, you’ve heard about the rebels, right?”

Thomas nodded, and glancing at the drawing on the poster, he remarked, “It looks like one of them was a knight.”

Joan looked away, picking at the carpet.

“Yes. Roman, one of the best knights we had,” They sighed, eyes glued to the floor. Thomas could tell that there was something Joan was keeping from him. They hadn't kept secrets from him before, why would they start now?

“You knew him?” Thomas questioned. Joan nodded, their dark eyes still refusing to meet Thomas’ gaze. Cautiously, Thomas continued talking about the rebels. “I understand what they’re saying though. This kingdom is falling apart. The whole system, it’s just so…wrong.”

Joan attempted to stay calm, but years of resentment bubbled under their skin. How could Thomas talk about injustice? He ruled the entire kingdom, and had barely seen any of it. He didn't seem to grasp how the villagers of the kingdom really lived. Speaking slowly and gritting their teeth, Joan replied, “Well, that’s certainly something for you to say, _your highness.”_

Thomas heard the anger dripping off of Joan’s words. He knew that they were right, but the remark still stung.

“Joan, I…”

“Forget it.” The silence of the night now had an extra weight to it, and Thomas felt it pressing down on his chest. After a few minutes of the two refusing to speak, Joan quietly muttered, “We can’t do anything about it anyway.”

Thomas sat upright, a smile beginning to tug at his lips. “Maybe we can.”

“No Thomas, we can’t. I’m a knight, and you’re the king who can’t change anything,” Joan reminded Thomas.

“True, but I can at least talk to the rebels,” Thomas replied, the smile on his face continuing to grow.

“What?!”

Thomas and Joan spent the rest of the day in the dining hall, plotting. When time came for supper, Thomas excused himself and Joan. They sat in the king’s large bedroom, finessing their plan until darkness overtook them. At midnight, Joan left Thomas’ room for the much colder knight’s quarters. They left Thomas alone with his thoughts, and it was hours until either of them could force themselves to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> valerie has a little cameo in this because she's very pure and sweet. (all of thomas' friends are pure and sweet and i will protect all of them)


	13. Enacting a Plan

As dawn broke the next day, Joan and Thomas both awoke from a short and fitful sleep. But, there was no time like the present, and this was the day that they would put their plan into action. Joan and Talyn were the last knights left in the quarters, as Joan wanted to talk with them alone. Hastily, they explained the plan to Talyn, who seemed more than eager to help. Whenever they passed each other, the three would share nervous glances, knowing what the evening held.

At exactly noon, when everyone was eating a midday meal, Talyn snuck into the laundry room and stole tattered tan clothes that seemed to almost be Thomas’ size. They also snatched a discarded cloth bag, and carried everything back to the knights’ quarters, hiding the items under their bed.

Just as evening rolled around, Joan and Talyn sat anxiously in the knights’ quarters. Finally, Thomas showed up. They gave him the clothes that Talyn had stolen, and went to the stables to ready their horses.

When the king joined them in the stables, the three were a sight to behold. Joan held a cloth bag that quavered as their hands shook with nervousness. Talyn tried to keep their face calm and confident, but their fear was evident, and Thomas’ normally ornate attire was replaced with the tattered fabrics. Joan and Talyn quickly jumped on their horses, and then Joan looked down at Thomas.

“Jump on.”

Thomas didn’t move, and instead asked, “Joan, Talyn, are you sure you want to do this?” With slight hesitation, both knights nodded. “But you could be killed if we’re found out, you know that, right?”

Talyn responded confidently, their proud tone surprising even themselves. “There are worse fates than death. We’re doing this for the good of the people, or whatever. More importantly, we’re doing this for you. No backing down now.” The gleam in Talyn’s eyes mirrored the hope on Joan’s face. Seeing their faces, Thomas took a deep breath, and climbed onto the horse. Once he was seated in front of Joan, he let them place the cloth bag over his head.

Darkness. The sound of the horses walking was slightly muted, but Thomas could certainly feel himself swaying as they moved. After a short while, they came to an abrupt stop. This was the most crucial part of the plan. He heard an unfamiliar voice speak.

“And what do you think you’re doing?”

From beside him, Thomas heard Talyn reply, “We’re taking this prisoner to be publicly executed.”

“Wasn’t aware of any executions today,” the guard growled.

Joan’s smooth voice came from behind Thomas. “Last minute decision. Orders from the very top.” Their voice took on a dark tone that Thomas had never heard before as they added, “If you want to hold us up, go ahead. Just remember that your head might be the next one in this bag.” A pause. Did the guard buy it?

“Go ahead,” he grumbled. A slow metallic clanging startled Thomas for a moment, his heart pounding, almost leaping out of his chest. The gates were opening. The horses continued walking, and when he heard the gates close, Thomas let out a breath he wasn’t aware he had been holding.

Once out of sight of the guards, they kicked their horses into a run, flying along the edges of town to avoid being spotted by villagers. After only a few minutes, they were out of the walled city, at the edge of the woods. Hidden from view by a stone wall, Joan took the bag from Thomas’ head.

Talyn looked at both of them, a frown on their face. They were beginning to have second thoughts, and asked, “Thomas, are you sure you want to go into the woods without us? If the rebels attack you…”

“If you don’t go back soon, the guards will be suspicious. Don’t worry about me.” Thomas grinned at his friends, and climbed off of the horse, much less gracefully than he had intended. He entered the woods. The king glanced back and offered the knights a confident smile that he hoped was convincing. It certainly didn’t convince him. After he turned back to the woods, Thomas heard the horses galloping away. Alone with only the trees as company, the quiet of evening settled around the man. The sun hadn’t even started to set yet, but with the cover of the leaves, it felt to Thomas like nighttime.

The king whirled around in fear at any noise around him, and jumped at the snapping of branches. After only an hour, he was tired, and beginning to become dizzy. Thomas was lost in the woods, and he was regretting his decision. That was the one thing himself and his friends had neglected to consider; Thomas being unable to find the rebels.

He should’ve realized it would be harder, as the rebels had plenty of months to practice hiding. Of course they would be hard to find. Thomas, as a king, had never exerted himself this much, and his vision was growing spotty. His feet ached, and his legs buckled underneath him. The ground seemed to be getting closer, and Thomas felt himself falling onto sharp sticks. As his vision grew dark, he could’ve sworn that he heard music playing nearby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Joan and Talyn are supportive knight friends and Thomas passing out because he walked for like an hour is Relatable™


	14. The Rebels and The King

Thomas’ eyes shot open. It seemed almost instantaneous, but judging from the moonlight above, it had been hours since he had collapsed on the forest floor. He was kneeling, and tried to move his arms, but couldn’t do so. He couldn’t even stand. Thomas strained his neck, searching for the ropes he felt binding him, but saw nothing. Then, turning his head up, he saw a man in blue robes, concentrating hard and pointing a wand directly at him. Thomas heard a loud gasp, and another man ran up and knelt in front of him.

“You’re awake! Are you okay? Sorry about the magic invisible ropes, Logan just-” the man with the wand, Logan, Thomas assumed, interrupted.

“Patton, it’s not ‘magic invisible ropes.’ It’s called a binding spell.”

Patton giggled.

“Sorry, we wanted to make sure you couldn’t attack us or anything, so we had to use the…magic invisible ropes.”

Logan glared, clearly annoyed, as Patton continued to laugh. At the sound of his laughter, two other men joined Patton and stood front of Thomas. One wore the hooded cape of a mercenary, and fiddled with a golden coin, refusing to look at the king. The other wore what were very obviously the clothes of a knight, tattered and worn as they were. He had to be Roman. A sword was at his side, and in a single fluid motion, he pulled it out. Thomas gulped as he saw the metal glint in the pale moonlight.

Then, Thomas could feel the ropes growing looser around him, and one glance at Logan showed the reason why. No doubt the wizard had been casting the spell for hours, and he was getting tired from exerting the effort. Logan stumbled backwards every few moments, and his eyes kept fluttering closed before he forced them to open again. Patton noticed this as well, and faced Roman, concern filling his eyes. Roman quickly swung his sword, pointing it at Thomas’ neck.

“If I were you, I’d highly recommend not trying to escape.” Thomas quickly nodded, and felt the tightness around him dissipate as Logan collapsed to the ground. Patton was by the wizard’s side in seconds, murmuring to him. The mercenary still hadn’t looked up from the gold coin in his hands. Roman spoke in a confident yet quiet voice. “Why are you here alone?”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

There was a quaver in Thomas’ voice as he spoke, even though he tried to maintain a calm demeanor. The mercenary scoffed and, still looking down, questioned, “And why would you want to do that?”

“Because I agree with you.” Roman and Virgil frowned at each other, unsure whether to believe the man. Thomas continued speaking. “I’ve tried for years to get them to help the kingdom, but every time they ignore my ideas. I understand if you don’t believe me, but don’t you see the risk I took in even coming to this forest in the first place? Why would I do that if I’m not telling the truth?”

Realizing that Thomas was right, Roman lowered his sword. He still did not sheath it yet, just in case Thomas did try to run. He did not, however, and the three sat in heavy silence until Logan, being practically carried by Patton, hobbled over to sit next to Roman. Patton offered a cheery smile, attempting to lighten the mood, and then looked between Thomas and Roman.

“What do we do now?”

Thomas spoke with a sudden strength in his words as he replied, “We take them down.” The others stared at him in varying degrees of shock. He continued, “I may not have had much power, but I still symbolized their power. The second someone outside of those castle walls knows that I’ve gone missing, it’ll be chaos. Perfect time to stage a revolution.”

The eyes of the rebels began filling with hope, but Roman was unconvinced.

“How could we do that?”

Logan sat bolt upright, sudden inspiration filling him with energy.

“Mob mentality!”

The others simply blinked, clearly not understanding what he was saying. Patton leaned in close to him and muttered, “I think we’re going to need some elaboration on that.”

Logan groaned, and launched into an explanation.

“We can use mob mentality to our advantage. If we sympathize with the emotions of the crowd, we can make them to follow our lead and revolt.”

Hearing Logan’s idea, Roman’s own ambition was sparked, and with an ever growing grin, he said,

“We could stage a jailbreak too! Your highness, you and I know how those jails work, we could easily sneak in. With Virgil’s help, of course.” Virgil rolled his eyes, but even he could not help but feel hopeful. Thomas nodded at Roman before saying,

“You can just call me Thomas.”

Logan frowned, the excitement from earlier fading from his eyes.

“This isn’t going to be easy. Or safe. We don’t have room for error,” he informed the others. They nodded, and continued to talk in excited, hushed tones, only just going to sleep as the sun peeked over the horizon.


	15. Exhausting Teleportation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (this started as quirky, fantasy au polysanders fluff...now it's this...don't worry, there will still be polysanders, just with more plot and angst than originally intended) Also, thanks to everyone reading this and commenting along the way! I know, I'm really bad about responding to comments, but I do read all of them. I can even recognize some of your names now, (which is pretty neat!) and I just wanted to say: Lotsa love to anyone enjoying this story! All of your amazingly sweet comments make my day!

The next morning, Virgil crawled out of the bush to see the others sitting on the forest floor, frowning in thought. It didn’t look like any of them had gotten much sleep. In truth, he hadn’t either. He sat down, completing the circle. Patton grinned at him, exhaustion evident in his eyes.

“We’re trying to come up with a plan. You got any ideas?”

Virgil shrugged.

“Well, we’ve got to make them scared,” he muttered. “People will do anything when they’re scared.” Patton and Thomas seemed unnerved by his comment, but the others agreed.

“We have to show them that we’re powerful!” Roman added, striking a confident pose. Logan sighed, replying,

“We also have to let them know that we’re skilled and smart.”

Patton, becoming increasingly worried, quickly said, “But we also have to be nice to them! Sympathize, show them that we care. Make them like us.” Thomas looked around at the four of them, and a plan took shape in his head.

“Logan, can you do teleportation spells?” Thomas asked. Logan furrowed his brow.

“No, I’ve been trying to learn, but I’m afraid I still am unable to do that. I do have the spell written here, somewhere…” He began to fumble through his robes, searching for the scroll.

“Good. Practice,” Thomas said firmly. Logan stepped back, obviously confused. “If my plan is going to work, we need you to be able to transport. Objects and people.” Logan looked to the others, and they shrugged and nodded. Thomas was the only one with a plan, so they might as well hear him out. “One more question Logan, can you make puffs of smoke?” Logan reached into his robes again, and pulled out a small sphere with a lever on the side.

“I can make these using a spell I learned a while ago. It’s a bomb of sorts. You pull the lever, and a few moments later, it explodes into a cloud of smoke.” Logan pulled the small lever with his thumb, and then tossed it a few feet away from them. It then disappeared in a thick cloud of dark blue smoke.

“I need you to conjure up as many of those as possible,” Thomas instructed, and he let Logan reluctantly go to his work. Patton looked concerned, remembering what had happened when Logan last exerted his magic too much, but he said nothing. “Roman, Virgil, Patton, we need to work together and figure out what we’re going to do. We need to choreograph our movements, have everything down to the last second. Are you with me?”

Roman and Patton nodded without hesitation. Virgil glanced at Logan, who had fallen onto the ground in a failed attempt at teleportation. He looked into the hopeful eyes of the other three, and remembered that first night where this all began. Slowly, he turned to Thomas and nodded.

As they plotted, Logan was still trying to work out his spells. He had a system, every five times he failed at teleportation, he would create a smoke bomb for Thomas. He had a sizeable pile of bombs, but had yet to teleport himself anywhere. He then focused his attention on the bombs, trying to teleport them. That usually ended up just setting them off, and leaving Logan on the forest floor, coughing on a cloud of smoke. He was growing tired, but refused to quit. A wizard who can’t do his spells is useless, and he couldn’t be useless, he had to help the others.

He pointed his wand at the pile one more time, and watched as one of the bombs disappeared. Excitedly, he turned around, searching for where it had gone. He couldn’t find it, until he heard four small shouts and coughing coming from the clearing where his friends were. He flicked his wand again, watching another puff of smoke surround them. Breathing deeply, Logan closed his eyes and pointed the wand at himself. _Here goes nothing._

Suddenly, he felt himself falling forward, and grabbed onto the branch in front of him. Why was there a branch in front of him? Opening his eyes, Logan saw the ground almost ten feet below him. He had factored for the distance, but not the height, and had landed himself in a tree. The rustling of leaves made the others look up, and they saw his terrified face as he clung to the tree. Patton clapped excitedly.

“You did it Logan, you did it!”

“Yes, thank you Patton. Now, I would like to get down from here.”

“Well, why don’t you just teleport down?” Patton asked. Logan relaxed, remembering that possibility. He brought out his wand, but it began to slip from his fingers, and he watched as it fell to the forest floor. The wizard groaned, and Patton couldn’t suppress his giggles. “Just hop down into my arms again. You did it once!” Logan most certainly did not want to do it again, but he sighed and let himself fall into the bard’s expectant arms.

This time, Patton was ready, and gently caught Logan before placing him upright. Logan brushed himself off and grabbed his wand from the ground. Patton was the only one who noticed that Logan stumbled slightly as he tried to walk. No doubt an effect of using his magic for so long.

Thomas grinned, and told the wizard to practice more, he needed to do it as perfectly as possible. This made Patton’s stomach turn, but he didn’t say anything.

By the end of the night, Logan was almost about to collapse from exhaustion. But he could teleport himself, the others, and his smoke bombs around the forest with almost pinpoint accuracy.

Thomas was pleased with how the plan was going, and in his haste, still didn’t seem to notice Logan’s tiredness. Instead, he smiled and said, “Alright, Logan, we need you to get this letter to Joan and Talyn in the knight’s quarters of the castle. Roman can help you figure out where they are.” Thomas continued to talk in low voices to Virgil and Patton as the three of them prepared to sleep. Roman sketched a crude map of the castle in the dirt with a thin stick.

“…and so that is where the knight’s quarters are. You just need to get that scroll there.” Logan nodded, and concentrated on the map as he waved his wand over the parchment. After a few moments, it was gone. “Did you get it right?” Roman anxiously questioned.

“I don’t know, Roman,” Logan retorted. “We just have to hope.”

“Hope isn’t really your thing.”

“Yeah…” Logan breathed out a heavy sigh. “I think I’m learning a lot of new things.” Roman watched the wizard struggle to keep his eyes open.

“Logan, do me a favor. Please don’t go on guard tonight, I can take your shift.” Logan tried to protest, but Roman grabbed his arm. “If you try to stay awake any longer, you’re going to pass out. Please, just get some rest.” Logan shook free of Roman’s grasp, and continued to mumble protests under his breath as he stood up. Roman was right, however, the wizard had barely any energy left in him. This was evidenced by Logan taking a few steps forward, stumbling, and then collapsing to the ground. Quickly, the knight rushed forward and caught him, shaking his head at the unconscious wizard. He gently placed him under the bush next to Patton, who gladly wrapped an arm around him.

As Roman stood on guard, he remembered that first night that they had been on the run. He laughed inwardly, remembering how the roles had been reversed: he had passed out from exhaustion, and Logan had been the one putting him to bed. He remembered Logan calling him their ‘knight in shining armor.’ That phrase still sent shivers down Roman’s spine, and made his heart beat double time.

He also remembered something else Logan had said that night.

_“Decided to come out here and see the stars. Amazing to look at, aren’t they? So far away from us, and we still see arbitrary shapes and patterns weaving through them.”_

He remembered how he had looked up at the stars, and noticed how those same lights were held in Logan’s eyes. Roman looked up, and his face fell when he saw the thick clouds covering the stars above him. A cold wind swept through the forest, and Roman shivered slightly, wishing for the warmth of the blankets Virgil had bought for them.

As cold as it was, Roman was relieved when Logan didn’t wake up to go on his guard shift that night. His mind raced, worried for the wizard, and knowing that Thomas’ plan would require every drop of energy Logan had.

Hopefully he had enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's this?? me actually connecting plot points (and maybe doing some *artsy* foreshadowing??) me actually somewhat understanding metaphors??? no, don't you worry, i'm still the same mess who doesn't know how to write, but now i write paragraphs about *stars*


	16. Decisions, Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is short, but after this chapter: shit is going down.

Joan and Talyn sat upright, filled with worry for their friend. Ever since the king had gone missing, the castle had been on high alert. Neither Joan nor Talyn had gotten much sleep. As they silently sat and gazed into the dark, murky night, a small flash of light came from just in front of the door to the knight’s quarters. No one else seemed to notice it, but both of them did. Talyn and Joan ran to investigate what had happened, and saw a single scroll on the floor. Tentatively, Joan picked it up, and Talyn grabbed a nearby candle, lighting the flame and holding it close.

They immediately recognized Thomas’ handwriting, and breathed a collective sigh of relief, glad in the knowledge that he was alive. As they read the letter, excitement pooled in their eyes. There was a plan, and they were both a crucial part. With one day to plan their part before the rebels set everything in motion, the knights talked in nervous whispers.

Whispers about needing to contact a local medic, whispers about how exactly they would pull this off.

And whispers as they realized that they didn’t have just one day to _plan._

They had one day to _decide._

They could take the letter to the advisor, topple the rebels and live in luxury for the rest of their lives. They could ignore it altogether, and the rebels' plan would fall apart without them. Or, they could fight. Risk their lives, follow the plan, and fight.

They came to their final decision at midnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> questions for you guys before we get to the climax of this story, (it's coming very soon!) I plan on expanding on this universe even after the main story ends.
> 
> question one: would you guys even be interested in that?  
> question two: if I do it, I'm planning to just add the extra things as more chapters. should I do that or should I make them separate stories in a collection/series with this one?


	17. Smoke and Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (i'm getting a lot of writing done today! whoop!) i said that shit would go down. the shit is going down. it has not yet reached maximum levels of going down though, believe me, there is Pain™ coming. (also gays. gayness is happening. i said this was gonna be polysanders. i do not lie about polysanders)

One day left. One day where the rebels could practice, practice, practice.

Thomas was proud that his plan was coming together. Patton was terrified, and gulped every time he thought of what they were going to do. Roman was excited, shifting his weight and bouncing from foot to foot, unable to wait for the next day to come. Logan was weak and tired, but kept pushing through. Virgil noticed how Thomas insisted on practicing, how he insisted on perfection. He saw Patton’s hands constantly shaking with fear. Watching Roman, Virgil noticed how the knight had a slight quaver in his voice whenever he spoke. And Logan…he was overworking himself, that much was obvious. All of this culminated in an uneasy feeling in Virgil’s stomach.

But that day, like every day, came and went. They slept, as they always did, uneasily and afraid. And soon, the sun was rising over the forest. Logan stood, watching it make its way over the horizon. Virgil clasped Logan’s hand, tighter than what was comfortable, but neither one wanted to let go. Roman stood on the other side of Logan, his arm wrapped around the wizard’s shoulder. Patton walked up and ruffled Logan’s hair.

“Ready for the big day?” They all gave Patton a smile, but the fear surrounded them, a smoke so thick that it was hard to breathe. Virgil quickly wiped at his face, where tears had started to form. “Verge? You alright?” He sighed, staring at the sunrise.

“This…this could be the last sunrise we ever see,” Virgil replied. They all took a moment to stare at the pinks, oranges, and yellows lining the sky, before Patton shook his head.

“It won’t be. We’re going to do this. Together,” he stated firmly. Finally, Thomas woke up, and gave them all a solemn nod. This was the day. They walked to the village in silence, the fog of fear still hovering around them.

They made it to the village, and hid behind a wall. They all looked to Logan, who gave a smoke bomb to Virgil, took a deep breath, and flicked his wand. Their plan was set into motion.

_“We’ve got to make them scared. People will do anything when they’re scared.”_

Though the others couldn’t see it, Virgil had landed exactly where they wanted him to. He stood on a raised wooden platform in the center of town. As the puff of smoke cleared from around him, he held his head up high, giving an air of confidence that he himself didn’t believe.

Gasps rippled through the busy townsfolk, they knew he was a mercenary, and most of them had realized that he was a rebel. They backed away like frightened animals.

_“We have to show them that we’re powerful!”_

Virgil stayed silent, waiting for the next part of the plan to be put into place. This was crucial, it relied on Joan and Talyn making the right decision. Roman appeared next to Virgil in a cloud of smoke, sword drawn, and a confident smirk on his face. Then, a familiar voice rang out through the crowd.

“Rebels! I’ve got this!” Joan ran towards them, a hateful glint in their eyes. Roman was taken aback for a moment until the plan came rushing back to him. Joan was a much better actor than he’d expected.

Joan jumped up onto the platform, and drew their sword, dueling with Roman as the crowd became rowdy and even more terrified. Finally, Joan dropped their sword, making it look like Roman had knocked it out of their hands. Without hesitation, Roman grabbed Joan, and held the sword against their neck. A scream came from the crowd, and another familiar knight ran forward.

“Joan!” Talyn began to draw their sword, but Roman, with an iron grip still on Joan’s shoulder, pointed his sword at Talyn.

“Do you want to be next?” Roman growled, and Talyn shrank back along with the rest of the crowd. Roman locked eyes with them, still glaring, but trying his hardest to show how grateful he was to both of his friends.

_“We also have to let them know that we’re skilled and smart.”_

Logan and Patton appeared next to them in a puff of smoke, and in another puff of smoke, the five of them had disappeared, making the panicked villagers confused. Then, Talyn yelled,

“Look!” and pointed to the fountain that was almost two hundred yards away. A giant cloud of smoke appeared, and the four rebels stood on the edge of it. Roman still held tightly to Joan, and his sword still brushed against their neck. Whispers and murmurs rang out through the crowd, most about how talented their wizard had to be to get them that far with that amount of precision.

_“But we also have to be nice to them! Sympathize, show them that we care. Make them like us.”_

Patton spoke, addressing the crowd and trying his best to look friendly.

“Listen, we don’t want to hurt any of you. We just want to talk to you. Because we’re worried about you, and this kingdom.”

The braver members of the crowd started inching closer, interested in what they had to say. There was one more person that had to be seen. Logan held his wand behind his back, and pointed it in what he hoped was the right direction…his brain was becoming foggy…

He’d done it right, and in a cloud of smoke, one final man stood next to them. The crowd went wild as they recognized him. The king quickly grabbed their attention, and he spoke.

“I’m on their side.” Confusion, panic, terror, excitement, the emotions rippled through the village. This was exactly how it was supposed to happen. The next part relied on the villagers themselves, however, and that would be much more tricky. Shaking and exhilarated, Thomas swallowed, and addressed the crowd.


	18. Mob Mentality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> school is way more draining than i thought it'd be. i'm trying to get the rest of this out to you guys but updates might be coming a bit slower and farther apart.

“They’re against the corruption in this kingdom. Well so am I! I want to help all of you, but I can’t. The people who are actually in charge in the castle would never let me,” Thomas explained.

“Thomas told us this, and we’ve all agreed," Roman added. "There is only one way this ends, and that’s with a revolution. Who’s with me?!” He called. The crowd, anxious and afraid, avoided his line of vision.

A certain young knight, however, didn’t even flinch as they dashed to the front of the crowd and yelled, “I am!” Joan couldn’t help but grin at Talyn’s determined face. The rest of the crowd still seemed unconvinced. Joan looked at Roman, and then firmly stated,

“I am too.” Roman smiled, and released his grip on their shoulder. The crowd was surprised, but still hesitant. Then, two small children stepped forward.

“So are we!” Patton gasped as he recognized Missy and Pranks. They both grinned at him, and he grinned back. His heart was beating far faster than before. They were just children, and yet they were so ready to fight. Patton was proud, but terrified for them. And they had still yet to win over the crowd’s affections.

“C’mon, are you guys really more scared than a couple of kids?” Pranks cried incredulously.

“This is your one chance to do something, to actually make a difference!” Thomas desperately shouted. A few moments of tense silence hung in the air, until the crowd started shouting their agreements. One by one, they stood forward and called out their support for the rebels. Virgil turned to Logan.

“Hey, your mob mentality thing worked!” Logan still stared into the distance, eyes glazed over. Virgil’s stomach twisted itself into knots, and he grabbed Roman’s arm, hissing, “Time for phase two.” Taking that as his cue, Logan threw down a smoke bomb and teleported himself, Virgil, and Roman to an alleyway behind the crowd.

Roman and Virgil looked to Logan, excitement clear on their faces. They could all hear Thomas and Patton continuing to rally the crowd back in the center of town. Logan was leaning against the side of a building. His breathing was shallow and his limbs were heavy. Roman didn’t seem to notice.

“To the dungeons!” Roman announced, brimming with confidence. He gave Logan a smile, but his face fell upon seeing the wizard. “Logan? Are you alright?” Instead of a response, Logan slumped to the ground. Virgil and Roman were by his side in seconds. Virgil, eyes wide with fear, murmured to him.

“Come on Logan, you can do it. Just one more spell, we just need to get into the dungeons. We can’t do this without you.”

Logan shook his head, struggling to keep his eyes open. Tears were forming in his eyes, and with a bitter laugh, he croaked, “I’m just your ‘resident wizard who only knows two spells.” He breathed in sharply. “I’m so sorry.” Virgil grabbed his hand.

“Damnit Logan. I was an idiot, alright? You’re a talented wizard, look at all you’ve done today. We just need one more spell, that’s all. I believe in you.” Logan shook his head, and let his body start to go limp. Terrified, and thinking quickly, Roman leaned in, and held the sides of the wizard’s face.

“We know you can do it Logan.” Roman pushed his head forward, and let their lips crash. Logan tasted like sparks, like distant lights...Logan tasted like the stars. When Roman pulled away, he saw Logan, eyes wide open, and a hint of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. Without another word, he took a deep breath, and waved his wand. The mercenary and the knight disappeared from in front of him. He could only hope that he had sent them to the right place.

_“Hope isn’t really your thing.”_

With those words echoing in his mind, Logan’s vision grew cloudy, and his eyes flickered shut.

Roman and Virgil felt the entire world shift around them, and then they were somewhere else entirely. Somewhere murky and cold. Roman beamed.

“He did it! We’re in the dungeon, Logan did it!” Then, as they looked around, both men realized exactly where in the dungeon they were.

Virgil grumbled, “Yeah, we’re in the dungeon. In a cell. We are locked in a cell.”

“Can’t you pick the lock, _mercenary?”_ Roman implored. In response Virgil rolled his eyes, and gestured to the lock, too far away from the bars for his arms to reach. Suddenly, confident footsteps rang out through the dungeon. Virgil immediately sunk into the shadows, leaving Roman at the front of the cell, his fingers reaching for the handle of his sword. The footsteps came closer, and a young woman came into view. “Valerie?!” Roman cried, relieved to see the familiar face. She turned to meet his gaze, and stepped back, drawing her sword.

“Roman! Y-you’re a traitor!” He flashed her a nervous smile, and started to speak, but Valerie held up a hand to stop him. “I know what you want, and the answer is no, Roman. I can’t let you out of here. You betrayed the king, you betrayed the castle…you betrayed all of us. I’m…I’m sorry.”

“Valerie. The king is with us.” She glanced up, her interest obviously piqued. “He went missing, that’s why you’re patrolling the dungeon, right?” The look in her eyes told Roman that he was right. “Well, he left to join us. He’s a good person Valerie, you know that. He chose the right side.”

“You’re only saying that because he chose your side.” Valerie walked away, shaking her head. Roman had to think fast.

“Just slice through the lock and run. You never have to look back. If you leave us-” Roman realized that Virgil was still hiding in the shadows. “Me…if you leave me here, then I won’t be able to help Thomas.”

“What, help him by setting these criminals free?”

“None of them are criminals and you know it!” He spat. Clenching his fist and inhaling deeply, Roman continued. “If I can’t help him, countless civilians will die, Valerie. I’ll die. _Thomas_ will die. But if you want that weight on your shoulders, so be it.” Taking in a shaky breath, Valerie closed her eyes, pulled out her sword, and sliced through the lock. She watched the creaky iron bars swing open for only a moment before fleeing back to the safety of the castle.

Virgil and Roman watched her sprint away, but they quickly got to work, remembering Logan's face and how he had collapsed to the ground.

Hope wasn't Logan's thing, and it definitely wasn't Virgil's. But, for the sake of those they cared about, both of them had to hope. Just hope that they really would get to see another sunrise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello yes i shall never stop writing logan angst


	19. Blood, Kisses, and Tears

Roman and Virgil dashed around the dungeon, Roman swinging his sword to cut through the locks, and Virgil nimbly picking the locks with tools he had tucked away in his robe. The prisoners were confused, but as they worked, Roman and Virgil tried to explain what was happening. They seemed to understand, and all of them agreed to help the rebels fight. They fashioned weapons out of sticks on the ground, and used the jagged remains of locks as small daggers.

Finally, only a couple more cells were left. Virgil told Roman to start leading everyone up through the castle as he freed the final prisoners. Roman nodded, squeezed Virgil’s hand tightly, and gave him a hopeful smile before he started his march up the stairs.

Virgil picked the locks, his hands trembling slightly with anticipation. As he freed them, the prisoners would dash through the long hall to catch up with the crowd. He worked on the last lock, his shaking hands making his job difficult. In the cell, he noticed a girl curled into a robe as dark as his own. When the lock sprang open, he stepped back and let the thick bars swing outwards. The girl hesitantly stepped out of her cell. As she stood, Virgil realized that she was older than he had first assumed. Still, the girl was scrawny and obviously unhealthy.

“Thank you so much sir,” she sputtered softly. She ran up and wrapped her arms around him, tears brimming in her eyes. Virgil was startled, but he had started to learn to appreciate physical contact. As he moved to hug her back, a sudden pain reverberated through his right shoulder. The girl’s soft murmur turned into a confident hiss in his ear. “Maybe you’re right, maybe they lock up people who shouldn’t be locked up. But believe me, not everyone has a secret heart of gold.” Virgil felt another surge of pain as she reached for his shoulder again. She pulled out a silver dagger, soaked in crimson blood. The girl shoved him to the ground, and he cried out in pain as his shoulder hit the dirt floor. She raised her foot, and brought it down against his chest, the heel of her boot digging into him. Virgil let out a large gasp as the pain burst through him. He struggled to pull air back through his lungs.

“I bet you're wondering why I do it, aren't you? It's because I love this. I love to watch the light fading from your eyes.” Virgil grunted as she dug her heel farther into his chest. “You were a mercenary! But they made you so pathetically weak. And now, you can’t even save them, can you?” With a smirk, she leaned toward his chest with the dagger in hand. With every drop of energy he still had, Virgil shoved. Hard.

The sudden impact made her release her grip on the dagger, and it clattered to the ground as she stumbled back into the open cell. Quickly, pain still coursing through him, Virgil swung the bars closed on her, and locked her back in. She wailed and screamed in protest, lunging for him through the bars. He took her dagger, wincing at the blood dripping from it, and the metallic smell filling his nose. Reaching back, Virgil cut through the hood of his cape, and tied the fabric tightly against his shoulder. He then dashed up the stairs, ignoring the girl’s anguished cries, and biting his lip to keep from screaming at the pain in his shoulder.

As Roman and Virgil had begun to free the prisoners, Thomas and Patton had continued their work in gathering the crowd. They now held weapons, and were chanting war cries as Joan and Talyn led them through the city streets. Remembering the building that Logan should’ve been behind, Thomas and Patton dashed into the alleyway.

Patton was the first to see him, the blue robes spread across the dirt and his eyes shut tightly. The bard rushed to his side, repeating the word ‘ _no’_ under his breath.

_No, this couldn’t be happening._

_No, he wasn’t seeing this._

_No, Logan wasn’t…_

The thought was too awful to be put to words. As he dropped to Logan’s side, Patton heard faint breathing, and saw the wizard’s chest moving up and down. Thomas looked at him, and they both nodded. He was alive, just unconscious. Thomas felt a stone of guilt sinking in his stomach. If only he hadn’t pushed Logan so hard…

Almost as if reading his thoughts, Patton quickly said, “What’s done is done. You did what you had to do. Nobody’s dead, your plan is working. Now, you stay with him, and I’ll go with the crowd.” Thomas protested, but Patton’s uncharacteristic glare quieted him immediately. “Between the two of us, I have a better shot of surviving a fight. And…well, if one of us has to die…” Patton took a shaky breath. “This kingdom needs a king.” Thomas shook his head, but he knew there was no point in arguing.

Patton started to stand, and then took one last glance at the wizard lying on the ground. He bent down, and placed a gentle kiss to Logan’s forehead, tears dripping onto Logan’s face. Saying a firm goodbye to Thomas, Patton headed off in the direction of the crowd.

The stone of guilt grew heavier as Thomas watched him run away.


	20. A Battle for Freedom is a Losing One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fair warning, this is...intense. I definitely didn't mean for it to be this intense as I was writing it, but it got to that point. If you're squeamish about blood/injuries, please please please be careful reading this!

Roman led the prisoners through the labyrinthine halls of the castle. When they reached the main entrance, he stopped, and looked around, frowning at the empty room. A balcony stood high above them, the pathway to it hidden in a maze of halls and tunnels that only the heads of the kingdom knew how to navigate.

His large group of prisoners looked around, holding their weapons in front of them, steadying themselves for an ambush. The front doors to the castle burst open, and they all jumped, but stopped when they saw who had opened them.

Talyn and Joan stood proudly, swords raised. Behind them was a sea of villagers, a mixture of fear and anger on their faces. Missy and Pranks stood confidently beside the knights. The chanting of the villagers made their presence known, and within moments, knights were dashing into the room. They recognized the rebels, and launched an immediate attack.

Hundreds of knights versus hundreds of villagers. They ran at each other, flames in their eyes. Blood was shed almost immediately, and Roman flinched as the smell entered his nose. As he found himself locked in combat with the man who had trained him his entire life, Roman’s mind wandered, flashes of the rebel’s faces making him worry for them, and kept adrenaline pumping through his veins.

The swords clashed, and Roman blocked out the screams around him. He had no idea who was winning, and he and his mentor were at a standstill. Suddenly, a flash of black fabric crossed the corner of his eye. Concentrating on his sword, Roman turned his head to see Virgil, scanning the crowd for someone to fight. He then noticed Virgil’s shoulder, and how the black fabric wrapped around it was dripping with blood.

“Virgil!” Roman cried, forgetting about the knight swinging the silver sword at him. Noticing Roman’s temporary distraction, his mentor lunged as hard as he could. Roman tried to duck out of the way, but the sword sliced into his arm, and red blood quickly dripped onto the ground. Roman turned and continued fighting his mentor, but with an open wound and worry for Virgil flooding his brain, he was at the disadvantage. Without realizing it, Roman let himself be backed against a wall, and a sword was pointed at his chest. His mentor chuckled darkly.

“Doesn’t this remind you of training? You, always losing the duels. Those old one on one fights.” Roman gulped, and he stared at the silver blade. Then, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, and raised his head to meet his mentor’s gaze.

Slowly and deliberately, Roman replied, “Well, I must say that you need to work on your counting skills.” Virgil, who had been waiting for the opportunity to strike, jumped onto the mentor’s shoulders, stabbing blindly with the stolen dagger. After only a few moments, the mentor collapsed to the ground, Virgil still clinging onto him. Roman reached out a hand and helped the mercenary to his feet. They both looked at the unconscious figure on the ground. Neither of them could bring themselves to deliver the killing blow, and they both stepped back.

Swallowing hard, they watched as a villager with murder in their eyes sliced open the man with one fluid motion. Virgil turned his back, his stomach churning and his lips curling with disgust. Roman busied himself, tearing off his shirt and using it in the same way Virgil had used the hood of his cape. They both watched as the white fabric was quickly stained with bright red blood.

Virgil looked over Roman, and then himself, realizing how long it had been since either of them had bathed. Dirt clung to their hair and their clothes, and they both smelled awful. He hoped that if they won- _when_ they won, all four of the rebels could bathe, and get clean clothes. The thought of simple pleasures like that made Virgil realize how tired he really was. Roman touched his shoulder, careful not to hurt him.

“You alright?” Virgil looked at the knight, and couldn’t help but crack a small grin as he shook his head. Roman chuckled grimly, and readied his sword. “Either way, the battle waits for no one.” Together, they rushed back into the mess of weapons and shouting and blood.

Patton ran into the castle, and wanted to flee into the village when he saw the chaos surrounding him. He’d never seen so much blood in his life. He’d never witnessed death, and now it was everywhere. His mind went first to the others, but he couldn’t see them amidst all of the fighting. Then, he worried for Missy and Pranks. They were just children, there was no way- a deep scream of pain interrupted his thoughts.

Patton looked in the direction of the scream, and saw a knight being doused in boiling water. He followed the stream of water upwards, and then, hanging from the ceiling, he saw Missy and Pranks, holding an empty black cauldron. He had no idea how they’d gotten up there, but at least they were safe.

And besides, he didn’t have time to worry, because at that moment, a fist connected firmly with his back. Patton stumbled forward, and turned to see a knight. She was battered, beaten and bruised, her blonde hair was stained with blood, and she seemed to have lost her sword in the battle. But, as most knights are, she was determined, and so she kept fighting.

Patton realized in that moment exactly how unprepared he was for a fight, and he felt her fist strike him across the face. He fell to the side, catching himself on his arm. Patton coughed, and flinched back as he saw blood splatter against the floor. Along with…was that one of his teeth?!

The knight kicked him in the stomach, hard. Patton curled into a ball on the floor, starting to sob as she continually kicked and punched at him. She kicked his head, and it jerked back, slamming against the wall. Patton let out a loud yelp at the impact.

Roman, locked in combat with yet another familiar knight, heard a cry of pain echoing through the hall. He recognized the voice, and immediately turned, screaming, “Patton!” The knight he was fighting used the opportunity to knock him to the ground, and she placed her sword at Roman’s neck, trapping him on the floor.

Virgil, only a few feet away, whirled around at the sound of Roman’s shout, and he too was pushed to the ground. He was lying on his stomach, and the knight dug their shoe into his shoulder, making searing pain shoot through his entire body.

He looked to see Roman staring at a blade pressed against his neck. Maneuvering his head, he spotted Patton, curled into himself on the ground. He remembered Logan, possibly dead in the alleyway-

Another burst of pain as the knight pressed down again, harder this time.

All he could hope was that Joan and Talyn survived.

That hope was quickly crushed as two cries pierced his ears in two painfully familiar tones. No doubt, if he looked around on the floor, he would spot those knights lying there with the rebels.

Thomas couldn’t do anything without them, and the villagers weren’t strong enough to fight on their own. The rebellion…it really was over. He'd never again get to see the sunrise. Just before the knight could plunge their sword into Virgil’s back, finally killing him, a booming voice brought the battle to a screeching halt. Virgil breathed a sigh of relief, but it was extremely short lived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god. do y'all remember when this was gonna be a quirky polyamsanders fantasy fic? remember when everybody was just snuggling under a bush???


	21. Armor Shining Bright

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (had no idea what to call this one)

“May I have your attention please?” Roman looked up towards the sound of the loud voice that bounded through the hall. He recognized the man’s face almost immediately, and, judging by the gasps rippling through the crowd, the others did too. The head advisor. This was truly the most powerful man in the kingdom.

Along with a few other advisors and a handful of knights, he stood on a balcony above the raging battle. “This little revolution has been cute, but thanks to some help from trusted friends, I am putting it to an end.” Next to the advisor, Roman saw Valerie. She noticed his shocked expression, and then looked down, avoiding Roman’s gaze. Roman’s heart sank to the floor as he realized that Valerie had betrayed them. He looked to Virgil, and the mercenary’s face mirrored the hopelessness on Roman’s. The advisor continued explaining.

“I have ensured that all of the doors are locked, except for these ones behind me. Along with those who were _truly_ loyal to me, I will escape out of those doors, and climb down the side of the castle. They will be locked shut behind me.” Below him, the crowd grew panicked, racing to doors and finding that all of them were indeed locked. The knights that stood above Roman, Patton, and Virgil all forgot about the rebels, and started shouting their protests. Roman and Virgil crawled towards each other on the floor, glancing back anxiously at Patton, who was too weak to move. “Before I leave, I have a little gift for you.”

From his pocket, he pulled out a sphere that was reminiscent of Logan’s smoke bombs, but this was much bigger. Roman and Virgil locked eyes. This one was definitely not filled with smoke. Possibly a poisonous gas, but more likely a simple explosive. Whatever it was, it was deadly.

In the next moment, several things happened simultaneously. The advisor flicked the lever, and Roman realized exactly why Valerie had been looking down. It wasn’t because she felt guilty, not at all. It was because she was concentrating on the small object she held in her hands. Roman recognized it as Valerie moved quickly, swinging it through the air and plunging it into the advisor’s chest. Valerie was holding a dagger.

Valerie had to think quickly, he had already activated the bomb, and there was no time to waste. Shaking with fear, she grabbed the bomb from his limp hand, opened the door behind her, and launched it out of the castle. She watched as it sailed over the town, and breathed a small sigh of relief as it scaled the wall and landed in the woods.

Her relief was short lived, however, as she turned to see those who really were loyal to the advisor surrounding her. Rage was in their eyes as their silver blades flashed, and Valerie gulped. Trying to mirror the confidence their faces held, she drew her sword and said, “Bring it on.”

Roman and Virgil hopped to their feet, a new vigor lighting a fire in their eyes. Patton was left, ignored, curled against the castle wall. As Roman watched Valerie desperately try to fight a losing battle, he searched for some way to get to her. Then, a long, thick piece of cloth dropped to the floor beside him. Roman looked up to see Pranks and Missy, tying the enormous curtain into the rafters. He gave them a grin, and then quickly climbed to the top.

When he reached the top, he looked around, and saw pots of boiling water, small marbles that they dropped onto the ground in front of the knights…so many ways that they were helping. Roman nodded to them, expressing his gratitude quickly before he set off along the rafters.

He dropped down onto the balcony, joining Valerie in her fight. The advisors and knights fled, and once the balcony was empty, Missy and Pranks tossed the curtain to them. Roman grabbed onto it, and Valerie followed suit. Using her legs, she pushed off from the balcony, and they swung into the battle. Roman landed directly on a knight who was threatening Virgil. The mercenary smirked.

“If it isn’t my knight in shining armor,” he snickered. Roman’s heart leapt in his chest, and he grinned at Virgil. Valerie rolled her eyes and continued on in the battle. Roman joined her, and they spotted Talyn and Joan, struggling against knights that were holding them to the ground. Quickly, they ran to the aid of their friends, and soon, the four of them fought together. Forming a circle, they matched any swipes taken against them. Every now and then, Roman saw a flash of black cloak dashing through his line of vision. He was grateful, it reminded him that Virgil was still alive.

Hours passed, until finally, the final advisors and knights surrendered. Talyn, Joan, and Valerie led those who were still loyal to the advisor, and still living, to the dungeons. They sent a medic to see to their wounds, the three knights standing guard in case anyone tried to flee.

Virgil and Roman looked over the sea of knights and villagers.

“We…won…” Virgil murmured softly. Roman let out a breathy laugh, and Virgil repeated himself, shock flooding his brain. “We won…”

Roman nodded, and tears raced down his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around Virgil, careful to avoid the man’s injured shoulder. Virgil didn’t care about his shoulder, he wrapped himself as tightly as he could around the knight. Roman pulled back, arms still around Virgil’s waist, and his face stained with tears. After a moment of breathy laughter, Roman pulled Virgil’s face close, and they kissed.

If Logan tasted like the stars, Virgil tasted like the inky black sky around them. Like darkness, like secrets and shadows. It was perfect… _he_ was perfect.

Remembering their surroundings, they dashed to Patton’s side. He was awake, breathing heavily, but he wasn’t bleeding. Dark purple and blue bruises were forming all over his body, but he was alright. Roman and Virgil each held one of his hands, squeezing tightly and sobbing into Patton’s shirt. Missy and Pranks clambered down the curtain hanging from the rafters, and they both were relieved when they saw Patton smile at them.

Villagers held family close, tears flowing down their faces. Knights wrapped their wounds in excess fabric. Some had been waiting for the opportunity to rebel, and others had changed sides amidst the battle. Medics, who had been told to prepare by Joan and Talyn, flooded the castle, treating everyone that they could.

Patton looked up at Roman and Virgil, and through tears, he whispered, “We won.”


	22. Two Different Sunrises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quote from my history teacher today: "anarchists wanted to destroy a corrupt system by any means necessary. and that always means casualties, on both sides. more often than not, it meant casualties for those who were fighting the system, because they had the disadvantage."
> 
> just some food for thought before you read this slightly longer than usual chapter.

As the three of them sat, holding each other, a tired figure walked through the castle doors. Roman looked up to see Thomas, carrying a still unconscious Logan in his arms. Gently, he leaned down and put Logan on the ground next to the others. Virgil reached out and held his hand over Logan’s chest, following the slow rise and fall of the wizard’s breathing.

Thomas looked at the rebels. Roman and Virgil were bleeding, Patton was covered in bruises, and Logan still hadn’t opened his eyes. That stone of guilt was so impossibly heavy as the stench of blood and death surrounded them. He wanted to stay with them, make sure they were alright, but he couldn’t. Not when he knew that all of this was his fault.

Again, Patton could almost read his mind, and looked the king in the eyes.

“We _won,_ Thomas. Because of you,” Patton reassured him.

“Now, you’re our king, aren’t you?” Roman questioned. Thomas nodded, still stunned by the scene around him. “So, go be our king.”  Thomas nodded again, shaking his head slightly to clear the daze. Looking around him, Thomas dashed to help medics carry wounded villagers to where they could be treated. Roman and Patton shared a look of pride as they watched him. Virgil continued following Logan’s breathing, desperately hoping to see any sign of life in the man’s eyes. But Logan was motionless, save for his slow breaths.

Silence fell across them as they watched the aftermath of what they’d done. Patton looked to Roman, his voice quavering as he asked, “We did the right thing, didn’t we?” Roman looked at the bard, and then over the room full of death.

“…we did what we had to.” Finally, a medic with a kind face ran up to them. As he gently picked Logan up from the ground, the others protested quietly.

“Don’t worry.” The man’s voice was soothing. “We’re taking all of you to the same place. You did an incredible thing, it’s time for you to rest.”

They gave in, and all four of them were carefully carried to cots in a large building. Patton, Roman, and Virgil resisted treatment, but as their wounds were gently cleaned with warm rags, they relaxed into the care. Virgil watched layers of dirt scrubbed from his arms, and turned to see Roman, his face clear of dirt for the first time since Virgil had met him. Turning in the other direction, he saw Patton’s eyes, sparkling like gems.

Roman winced as someone removed the shirt around his wound. They cleaned it with alcohol, and he bit his lip at the sharp pain running through his arm. Glancing at Virgil, Roman knew he was experiencing the same thing. The mercenary’s face twisted and contorted, and he met Roman’s eyes, understanding washing over both of them like a cool breeze. Patton, Roman, and Virgil drifted off to sleep as evening finally crept over the village.

Only a few hours passed before the rebels were awake again, sitting up in the darkness of midnight. Their faces were illuminated by the amber glow of candles, and the three of them silently made their way to Logan’s cot.

Patton pulled a wooden chair close to the head of the wizard’s cot, groaning at the pain rushing through him while he sat down. Virgil sat on the floor in front of Patton, leaning against the metallic cot. Roman was on the other side of Logan, sitting gently on the edge of the thin mattress. Without saying a word, Patton rummaged through his bag, finding a beaten and worn lute. Cracking the barest hint of a smile, he began to strum and sing.

“Seven dragons and a baby sitting in their nest  
The baby dances ‘round the dragons while they take their rest.”

Roman, still staring at the wizard, joined in.

“The baby understands the danger knows he must be careful  
And if he is successful then the dragons make him waffles”

They shared a smile, and Virgil scoffed, but sang along with them.

“Seven dragons and a baby marching on the town  
The villagers are fearful but the baby calms them down  
Explains to them he understands that dragons can be awful  
But if they want some breakfast yes the dragons make them waffles”

And for the rest of the night, that’s how they were. Sometimes singing, sometimes just relaxing into each other’s company. All of them reached out to Logan, reminding themselves that he was there. Still breathing. And that’s how they were, hours later, while Virgil stared out of the tall windows across the room.

Logan was lying on the bed, no sign of life in his eyes. Virgil clasped Logan’s hand, tighter than what was comfortable, but he couldn’t let go. Roman sat on the other side of Logan, his hand resting on the wizard’s shoulder. Patton ran his fingers through Logan’s hair.

They didn’t speak, didn’t say a word. The rebels stood there in silence, until Virgil started sniffling, and quickly wiped at his face, where tears had started to form. Patton turned to him, concerned.

“Verge? You alright?” He sighed, staring out of the window. Looking down at Logan’s motionless body, and then over at Patton and Roman, tears streamed down his cheeks even faster. He stared back through the window, taking a moment to stare at the pinks, oranges, and yellows lining the sky, before saying a single word.

“…sunrise.”

They had lived to see another sunrise.

At least, three of them had seen it.

They spent the day the same way they had spent the night. The three rebels sang until their voices were sore. Valerie, Joan, and Talyn walked into the room at noon, bringing warm bread with them. They said that Thomas wanted to come, but he also had many things to do. While Patton knew that this was true, he couldn’t help but remember the guilt on the king’s face as he had carried the unconscious Logan.

Hours later, the rebels were left alone, Logan still motionless. The stress was taking its toll, and all three of the others fell asleep, late at night, holding onto their wizard tightly.

Yet more hours passed.

And then…

Blinking. A pain, throughout his entire body, everything burned, yet it all felt so cold. Energy ran through his fingertips, but he couldn’t move a muscle. Straining hard, he opened his eyelids.

The barest hint of sunlight danced across his face, and something was clinging to his arm. Logan looked down to see Virgil, asleep, but holding onto the wizard’s hand for dear life. Roman, meanwhile, had curled himself next to Logan on the bed, his arm still reaching up to lie against the wizard’s shoulder. Patton was asleep, his head tilted back as he slumped in the chair. The bard’s hand was laced through Logan’s hair.

So many questions flooded his brain. They must’ve won, that’s why he was alive. But what had happened? Where were they? How long had it been? Was-

Logan forced his brain to slow, and he concentrated on the warmth surrounding him. He squeezed Virgil’s hand, nuzzled his head against Patton’s fingers, and curled tighter around Roman. As he fell back to sleep, he remarked that the sunrise outside of the window was spectacular.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> logan my boy my precious sweetheart darling child my nerdy baby 
> 
> me: *wants to write with complex metaphors and beautiful imagery*  
> also me: fuckin,,,sunrises are pretty


	23. The Road to Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I’ve been so sick lately, and my wifi’s been a mess. I still can’t get on tumblr, which is annoying me to no end. I’m honestly surprised I’m able to get this out to you guys.
> 
> This was originally going to be the last chapter, but it turned out super long. This is the second to last one you guys, and I'm kinda freaking out! The story isn't ending though, I've got plenty more planned.

Logan yawned, and opened his eyes a few hours later. Patton was the first to notice as Logan sat up. He gasped loudly, and Roman and Virgil both turned to the wizard in shock. Immediately, three men had their arms wrapped around him. Logan’s heart thudded loudly, even as his limbs were tired and cold. Patton took the wizard’s face, gazing into Logan’s eyes. Both of their faces glistened with tears.

“Logan…”

He still didn’t have much energy, and that meant his whole body felt as cold as ice. Virgil noticed the man trembling in the bed. Without a second thought, Virgil took his dark black cloak and wrapped it around the wizard’s shoulders. Logan curled into the warm fabric, and then noticed the fraying thread.

“What…happened to…the hood?” he asked, teeth chattering. The others avoided his gaze, and Logan looked around him, for the first time he was truly taking in their appearance. Patton’s entire body was bruised and purple. Virgil’s shoulder was wrapped in bloodstained cloth, and so was Roman’s arm. They all looked so tired. “Oh god…I’m so sorry, if I had just been able to-”

“Enough!” Patton silenced him. “I’ve had my fill of people feeling sorry for themselves. We won, and we couldn’t have done it without you. You did perfectly. If it weren’t for you, we’d be having this conversation at the guillotine.” Logan slowly nodded, still hating to see the others looking so beaten down. He started to reach for his cloak, which was on the floor.

“If I could find some sort of healing spell…” Roman restrained his arms, and Virgil kicked the cloak away.

“No magic,” Roman commanded firmly. “You need rest. And so do we.”

It took some maneuvering, but they all managed to fit into the bed. Roman had his arms held protectively around Logan, and Patton and Virgil were curled on top of them. Logan tired his best to avoid touching the others, terrified of aggravating their injuries. They all were lying together, eyes closed, and their chests rising and falling in sync.

It took a week until the medics were willing to let them out of the building, and even then they weren’t fully healed. Roman hated the bandages that created a sling for his arm, and occasionally tried to break through them as he reached out to the other rebels. Virgil couldn’t move his arm without a dull pain shooting through it. And he had still yet to receive his cloak back from Logan. Patton’s bruises had started to fade, but the others saw how he winced whenever he sat down. Logan’s chills were gone, and he was starting to walk around, although he still needed to lean on the others for balance.

Joan and Talyn were all there on the day they left. Thomas was nowhere to be seen, but the knights told the rebels that he had invited them to live at the castle. The thought made their hearts ache, finally finding a place to call home. When they entered the castle, they were greeted by Valerie and Thomas grinning widely. Thomas kept his distance, a pebble of guilt still lying in his stomach. Valerie, however, ran to them, her arms wrapping them all in a tight hug.

Thomas and Valerie led them around the castle, explaining how they were trying to implement a new system of laws. Not everyone loved it, of course they didn’t. There was no way it could be perfect. But the rebels could see in Thomas’ tired eyes that he was trying his hardest, and all of their hearts swelled with pride. Finally, as evening gently fell across the castle, Valerie gestured down a long hallway.

 “We’ve prepared a room for each of you!” The four shared conflicted glances. Roman cleared his throat and plastered a smile on his face.

“Thank you very much, how kind of you.” The others nodded, but none of them seemed convinced. Valerie led them each to their rooms. Each had an enormous bed, and was more luxurious than any of them were used to. They thanked her, and said goodnight to each other before reluctantly going into their separate rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont think ive mentioned my tumblr on here, welp, my url is galacticallynonbinary. hopefully that'll start working again, and feel free to drop by, i'd love to check you guys out on tumblr!


	24. Different Types of People

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…last chapter folks. Don’t worry though, I love this world too much to just leave it be. Please read the note at the end where I’ll explain in more detail what I’m going to do. And, to everyone, whether you were there since I posted that very first chapter, just binged the whole thing, or you’re somewhere in between, thank you. So much. I love all of you, thank you for going on this journey with me.

Roman undressed, taking off his shirt and pulling on a pair of silk pants that had been left on the bed for him. He laid on top of the covers, hands folded across his stomach, and stared at the canopy above the mattress. Time ticked past, and he couldn’t even close his eyes. The cold air on his skin reminded him of the woods and the bushes. They reminded him of standing guard, protecting the others. Of curling up, feeling warmth beside him.

Roman couldn’t take it anymore, the loneliness of only an hour was weighing down on his chest so hard that breathing was an arduous task. He crept out into the hallway as quietly as possible. Suddenly, as Roman was sneaking down the hall, he walked right into someone else who was doing the same thing.

“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry- Virgil?” He looked into the mercenary’s face, cocking his own head to the side in confusion. “What are you doing?”

“I…uh…I couldn’t sleep.”

“Nor could I.” They stood in silence for a few moments.

“I think Patton’s room is right here,” Virgil remarked, gesturing to a doorway. Roman gave him a soft smile, and they carefully opened the dark wooden door. They entered the room to find a tired Patton sitting on his bed and strumming his lute by candlelight.

“Oh, hello! I was just…working on a song…”

“Couldn’t sleep?” Virgil questioned, earning a slight nod from the bard. “Neither could we.” Patton gave them a large grin.

“Well, why don’t you all join me and-” he stopped himself, smiling even wider. “Actually, I think we should go and pay a visit to a certain someone else.” He blew out the candle he was using, and together, the three of them walked down the hall. They walked through a tall doorway to see Logan, sitting at a wooden desk, surrounded by parchment, ink, and quills. He didn’t even notice when they came in. “Hey Logan!” Patton’s sudden outburst startled Logan, who whirled around to see the three standing in his doorway. “None of us can sleep, we were wondering if we could try to sleep in here?”

“Be my guest.” Logan gestured to his bed, and Patton excitedly hopped up onto it, followed quickly by Roman and Virgil. Logan continued writing. Patton saw how the wizard slumped over his work, and had to force his eyes open. Slowly, Patton walked to the desk in the corner of the room. Patton carefully scooped Logan up, earning an indignant squawk of protest from the wizard. Roman and Virgil fell into a fit of laughter as Patton carried Logan to the bed. He feebly kicked and swung his arms at the bard, but his tired limbs were no match for Patton.

The wizard was tossed onto the thick mattress, and Roman held him tight before he could escape. When he saw Logan’s annoyed pout, the knight giggled and placed soft kisses along Logan’s neck. Patton leaned in and curled into Logan’s lap. Virgil smirked and wrapped an arm around Roman, pulling all four of them down onto the soft blankets.

In another room in the castle, Valerie had pushed two beds together. Joan and Talyn were curled together in one, and Valerie and Thomas sat, talking and chuckling in the other. She had somehow managed to drag the king down from his lonely room in the high tower. Secretly, he was incredibly grateful that she had. In a small cottage near the castle walls, two small children huddled together, safe against the cold night around them. Around the town, families came together, slowly working to rebuild their lives.

Nothing can ever be perfect, that’s something everyone knows.

Some people ignore that fact, and live their lives as best they can. Those people grow tired and distant. Those are the kinds of people who wake up in the middle of the night to gaze at the stars.

Other people hate that fact, and look down at those in charge who should be working to make the world perfect. Those people grow bitter and secretive. Those are the kinds of people who stare into the distance at a glowing sunrise.

Still others take that fact to heart, and work to rid the world of people who they think are doing wrong. Those people grow confident and lonely. Those are the kinds of people who will lean in close to share a kiss in the most tension filled moments.

Yet others don’t let that fact faze them, and work to make the world as perfect as possible. Those people grow caring and worried. Those are the kinds of people who remind everyone just how important they are.

And when those different people come together…well, sometimes nothing happens. Because they need the help of friends. Friends in high places, willing to risk everything, and friends with nothing, willing to do anything. Friends somewhere in between who have to choose which side to be on.

When the conditions are right, and just enough trouble is stirring in the air, that's when those people and their friends can do incredible things, things they never dreamed of doing. They can accomplish impossible things, like deciding to rebel against the king.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I just couldn’t resist that title drop) Who hoo! We did it, and they all managed to survive!! Now, in the next little while, I’m going to be making two companion pieces to this one, they’ll be put in a collection with this. The first will be called “Before the Tavern.” Backstories and everyone as lil kids!! The second will be “A New World Order.” That’ll talk about what happens to them after this story ended. Because rebuilding an entire kingdom isn’t easy, and neither is exploring an entirely new relationship. Aka, that ones gonna have a good amount of LAMP fluff. Stay tuned for those, and once again, I love each and every one of you. Looking forward to seeing your reactions to what's coming next!! <3


	25. Announcement!

Hello! The other two fics are up, and in a series with this one. The prequel is Before The Tavern, and the sequel is A New World Order. Go ahead and check those out!

And I have a sort of plan for what I'm going to do. There are three multi-chapter Sanders Sides fics I'm focusing on. A New World Order, Before The Tavern, and The Importance of Being Logan...Or A Prince. The last one isn't part of this fantasy au. What I'm planning to do is add a new chapter to one of those every other Wednesday. I'm not totally sure how that'll work out, and I might tweak it, but that's the schedule we're sticking with for now.

I made this announcement unnecessarily complex but anyways, now I've got a plan that'll hopefully work! Love you guys! <3


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